Transformers Titan: Awakening
by kira444
Summary: Volume 1 of Transformers Titan. Having crashed on a distant planet four million years ago, two warring factions of mechanical life forms, the Autobots and Decepticons, awaken on present day Terra and begin the next phase in their civil war. Humanity is forever changed as the world is drawn into a war between titans.
1. Earthfall part 1

Transformers Titan

Awakening

Chapter 1-Earthfall part 1

Circling the star Hadeen was a planet unlike anything in the heavens-Cybertron. No rock, soil or sand contributed to its bizarre geography. Its content was entirely mechanical, and it existed as a vast Saturn-sized world of labyrinthine intricacy with its origins lost to the mists of time. Here, life existed on Cybertron, but not life as we know it. Cybertron was populated by monumental mechanical beings that able to adopt a secondary vehicle or other mode for a variety of purposes. These metal giants were known as Cybertronians, but to the rest of the galaxy they were known as the Transformers.

Cybertron was once a paradise, a metallic marvel that was the prime example of just how diverse the universe could be, with its people seen by other races as evolutionary miracles, their name synonymous with culture and intellectual vigor. But what was once a glittering jewel in the cosmos was now a barren globe of scorched metal and tarnished cities littered with bodies. Civil war raged on Cybertron, a war that threatened to tear the planet asunder as it escalated to heights that no one-not even the combatants themselves-had foreseen.

It was a war started by the ruthless Megatron of Tarn, leader of the Decepticons, who spread across the planet like a plague, conquering Cybertron's many city-states and killing all who dared opposed his "rightful" destiny as the ruler of Cybertron. The only force capable of stopping the Decepticon advance was the Autobots, led by the legendary and peaceful Optimus Prime, who forged the Autobots into a counterforce dedicated to the preservation of all life, no matter what their nature was.

For thousands of years, the two armies, led by charismatic leaders, fought for control of the planet, with neither side showing any sign of giving in. But the war was starting to put a strain on Cybertron, the demand for resources was more than what the planet could provide and its people took more than it could produce. With the production of natural resources slowing down to a crawl, the warring Cybertronians looked to the stars to fuel their ever growing war, and thus the conflict spread to other worlds, many harboring life that was snuffed out by the chaos that followed the arrival of the Cybertronians.

Seeking to end the war before it can take any more lives, Optimus Prime commissioned the construction of a massive spacecraft, the Ark, which was meant to serve as a vessel for the expedition he was leading; a journey to other worlds for new energy sources that could give the Autobots enough power to end this war once and for all in one final strike. Defeat the Decepticons and perhaps find a way to stop Cybertron's slow death as well.

But like most things in life, nothing goes as planned in the grand scheme of the universe.

XXXXXX

The city of Rodion was quiet, much like the rest of Cyebrtron, or at least where there isn't any fighting going on. Rodion was once known for being one of the brightest cities on the planet, home to Cybertron's famous holo-circus that was so bright you could see the lights from the two moons if you were in the right position. It was rivaled only by Iacon in that splendor and many couldn't deny that it was a wonderful place to live, if not a bit hard on the optics.

Bumblebee would've loved to see it, what Rodion was like before the war. In fact, he would've loved to see Cybertron as it was before the war tore half its cities to pieces, and sapped the remaining settlements of their energy supplies. The little round yellow Autobot with two short horns on his head looked up at the night sky and sighed. Hearing stories from some of the older bots kept that longing at bay for a while, but somewhere down the line he drifted back to that misplaced wish of seeing a Cybertron that wasn't on fire, and seeing the sun for more than just a few minutes before having it obscured by smoke. It sucked being born in the middle of a battlefield.

"Bee!" Someone called out from the grate next to him. "A little help would be nice!"

"Oh!" Bumblebee focused on the task at hand and reached into the grate. "Sorry, Wheeljack!"

Bumblebee and his partner Wheeljack were currently raiding a refinery in Rodion, one of the few that were still able to generate power. It was a risky operation, seeing as Rodion was in Decepticon territory and there were swarms of Seekers patrolling the skies. But this mission was crucial for the Autobots, and being one of the best scouts there was in the Autobot ranks, Bumblebee was best suited for the job, along with Wheeljack.

After placing a pile of orange fuel rods down on the ground next to him, Bumblebee helped his partner up out of the small grate they made in the floor over the main engine of the refinery. Wheeljack was a head taller than Bumblebee, with white armor mixed with red and green stripes. He lacked a mouth, instead sporting a mouth plate and two extensions on the side of his head that glowed every time he spoke. As an engineer, Wheeljack knew his way around a refinery, and what to do and what not to do near volatile equipment that hasn't been used in nearly a century.

"Now is not the time to be daydreaming, Bee. We're in enemy territory." Wheeljack scolded.

"I know, I know, it's just that I've heard a lot of stories about Rodion and I was wondering what it was like before the war." Bumblebee sighed. "Sorry."

"No worries, just try to keep your head in the game. The last thing we need is Seekers firing rockets at our tailpipes." Wheeljack stood up and transformed to his vehicle mode. The conversion from bot to car was quick and precise, body parts and armor panels rearranging themselves to form an alien vehicle that had glowing power lines along the hood and trunk. "Let's load up and roll out!"

Wheeljack popped open his door and Bumblebee carefully loaded the fuel rods into the Autobot's interior. There wasn't that many, only ten in all, and they barely generated enough energy to power a turret for a day. But hopefully it was just enough to finish the project that the Autobots were working on, a project that could mean an end to the stalemate that was slowly driving both sides towards a slow death.

Once their cargo was fully loaded, Bumblebee transformed as well, his small form reconfiguring into a compact Cybertronian car that looked just as small and speedy as his robot mode. Together they drove out of the desolate refinery after making sure that the coast was clear, racing down the ravaged path and into the empty wilderness of tall metal spirals of iron and bronze.

"Looks like we're in the all clear." Bumblebee said. "You sure that was all we needed?"

"Of course I'm sure, Bee. These fuel rods were all that the refinery had in its stores. I just hope that it's enough for us to fuel the Ark, or that it's not too volatile, or this excursion of ours would've been for nothing."

"Way to be optimistic, Wheeljack." Bumblebee sighed and kept driving.

The two Autobots continued on their way through an underpass near the ruins of Praxus, driving nonstop well into the morning without even a pit stop. For a moment, Bumblebee allowed himself the luxury of thinking that they might get back to Iacon without having any incidents, but then that hope was dashed when he spotted an aerial combat drone tailing them.

"We've got a hitchhiker on our tail." He told his partner.

"I see it." Wheeljack spun around so that he was driving in reverse and the armor panels near his headlights slid apart to reveal two cannons. "I can take it out with an EMP grenade. Nice and quiet without alerting the Cons."

"Then do your magic Jackie."

Wheeljack waited for the drone to fly in a little closer before firing a shell at it. The projectile flew straight and true at the drone, a feat not many can achieve while driving at the same time, but Wheeljack was an expert driver on top of being a wiz at engineering. But what he didn't count on was mixing up his shells, and instead of firing his EMP grenade, he shot an incendiary shell instead-one that had a bit of a kick to it.

"Oh slag."

"Oh slag what?" The scout asked, not liking that worried tone in Wheeljack's voice.

"I think I fragged up."

"In what way?"

"I shot an incendiary shell instead of an EMP grenade."

"And how bad will that be for us?"

At that moment, the missile hit the drone and blew it up in a fiery display that lit up the early morning sky, as well as releasing a loud boom that could be heard for miles. Not even a minute later, a squad of Decepticon flyers, Seekers, were already on their way to investigate the explosion. Had Bumblebee been in robot mode, he would've glared at Wheeljack for his screw up.

"And you wonder why only Bulkhead likes working with you on the field."

XXXXXX

Iacon, once it was a cultural center that was home to the repository of Cybertron's entire history and the planet's capital that served as the seat of the Cybertronian senate itself. Now it was the seat of the Autobot army, their fortified city and one of the few places that the Autobots could call their own, for everywhere else was either a pile of rubble or under Decepticon rule.

The city was a metropolis of towering skyscrapers and streets that crisscrossed between buildings thousands of feet off the ground. The buildings were curved and domed, like they were stylized spaceships all prepped for take-off. The gold alloy that comprised most of the buildings in Iacon had faded with time and age, left to its own devices when war broke out and people were more concerned with avoiding the next air strike instead of polishing the towers. Once it all gleamed in the sun and shined in the moons, but now everything looked dull and faded, old and worn, much like the bots who have been fighting this accursed war of attrition.

There were many important buildings in Iacon, but the most important was the Decagon, a large golden dome that acted as the place where the senate held their meetings to discuss the planet's affairs and pass laws, but now it served as the main headquarters for the Autobots when the war erupted. Just a few miles from the Decagon was the shipyard that held the Ark, a massive golden spacecraft, the largest ever built by Autobot hands, made by the best engineers and scientists that they could muster and was already in the final stages of construction.

Outside the city limits, a massive battle was going on. Autobot forces were holding off a surprise Decepticon assault that came from the north and south. The air was alight with blaster bolts and missiles, exploding flyers and gunships filling the airspace and falling down on those unlucky enough to get away. The ground was littered with the corpses of Autobots and Decepticons alike, with thousands more still fighting among their fallen brothers and sisters. It was an offensive that the Autobots did not see coming, for attacking Iacon outright was complete suicide. But the Cons were desperate. They were trying their damndest to stall the Ark's launch, or maybe (for the Cons with youthful optimism) even destroy the ship and much of the city with it.

Standing in the citadel watching the chaotic battle on multiple monitors was a tall red and blue Autobot with a strong build and broad shoulders. Bright blue eyes watched the deaths of friend and foe alike with an amount of serenity that few commanders had, though his thoughts were anything but serene, and he lacked a mouth, instead having a smooth silver mouth plate. His very presence bordered on regal and he gave an aura of a leader who demanded respect and gave it in equal measure.

"Optimus!"

Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots, looked back to the citadel's entrance to see a smaller black and white mech with a re v-shaped fin on his forehead jog over to him with a datapad in hand. He stopped before Optimus and briskly saluted him.

"What is it, Prowl?" Optimus asked in a deep but oddly soothing voice.

"Bumblebee and Wheeljack have obtained the amount of energy we need to fuel the Ark." Prowl reported. "It wasn't easy, but they've managed to complete their mission."

"That's a relief." Optimus said and looked at the datapad Prowl had with him. "How much is it?"

"About four deca-quads, according to Wheeljack." Prowl said. "They're en route to Iacon as we speak."

"That's just enough to power the Ark's weapons systems." Optimus nodded, satisfied with this development. "Is there anything else that I need to know?"

"Yes," Prowl nodded. "They're bringing some friends along for the ride home."

XXXXXXX

A few miles from Iacon, Wheeljack and Bumblebee drove at full speed through the deep canyons and jagged crevices that composed the scorch marked metal plains of Iacon's territory. The Seeker squadron they alerted was hot on their tail, firing their laser cannons down at the Autobots. Bumblebee yelped as a stray laser bolt hit him in his rear axel.

"You just had to blow something up, didn't you!" Bumblebee yelled. "We were doing so good to!"

"Lay off me Bee, it was a mistake." Wheeljack said. "How was I supposed to know that it was a bomb? I thought it was an EMP grenade."

"Then don't paint two different kinds of grenades the same color!" Bumblebee retorted.

"Well…" Wheeljack trailed off as he realized that he had no excuse for that. Hindsight was indeed a glitch. "Damn it."

Their conversation was cut short when the mini-computer on Wheelack's dashboard began to beep. The screen showed five enemies heading straight for their position.

"Bee, we've got company."

Bumblebee could already hear the sound of the supersonic jets that were flying after them. They were the Seekers, the Decepticons' aerospace corps that made up the bulk of their aerial support. A five-bot squad was chasing after the two Autobots, with the lead jet colored red and silver-the colors of the Seeker's commander, Starscream.

"How dare you steal from the Decepticons!" Starscream shouted, firing down at them with his laser cannons. "I'll rip out your Sparks with my bare hands!"

"You don't scare us Screamy! You're all bark and no bite!" Bumblebee taunted. The best way to fight Starscream was by wounding his pride with words. He was notoriously easy to offend and had a hair trigger temper when it came to his personal image. When Starscream got angry, he got stupid. "What's the matter, can't hit two Autobots on an open road? No wonder Megatron uses you as his personal punching bag!"

Starscream yelled and fired missiles down at the two Autobots. Wheeljack and Bumblebee swerved to dodge the dead projectiles, but the area around them was peppered with explosions that could be seen hundreds of miles away. The steel archways and metal spires were destroyed and uprooted, causing them to collapse on the duo. Wheeljack spun around to avoid getting speared by a falling spire and, after almost getting smoked by a proton missile, decided to end this game of pneuma lion and scraplet right now.

"Starscream, here's a little gift from yours truly!" Wheeljack yelled.

Wheeljack spun around on his wheels so that he was driving in reverse and the panels on his hood slid opened to reveal his cannons. He took aim at Starscream and fired two shells, one was a shrapnel warhead that exploded in front of the Seekers, spraying a cloud of tiny but extremely sharp filaments at the flyers, and the other was a proton torpedo that hit Starscream in the nose. Disoriented and in pain, Starscream lost control of his flight path and crashed into one of the other Seekers, both of them crashing to the ground below.

"That'll give us some time, but not a lot. Let's put some metal into it, Bee!" Wheeljack said.

"Already on it!" Bumblebee called Autobot HQ. "Base, this is Bumblebee. Wheeljack and I are coming in hot with the payload en route to Iacon. We need someone to clear the door so we can get in with the cargo."

XXXXXX

At the gates of Iacon, the Autobot platoon holding off the Decepticon siege were also having their fair share of difficulties. This squadron of Autobots were among the most skilled of the Autobot ranks, legends in their own rights and they showed no mercy as they took out any Con dumb enough to get within shooting distance of them.

The first Autobot was white with blue and red streaks and a blue visor in place of individual eyes. He was wielding a pair of blue energy nunchucks that he used with great skill, smashing open the skulls of any Con that got too close to him with deadly blows that could shatter steel. His companion was a rather attractive femme (female), a slender pink Autobot who dual wielded two curved rapiers that she used to decapitate her enemies, and used her blaster pistol to shoot down the other Cons. They were the cyber-ninjas, Jazz and Arcee; students of Master Yoketron, the head of the School of Circuit-Su.

The other two Autobots were brothers, born from a split Spark and protoform at birth and matured into two totally different mechs. One was a bright yellow, almost gold, mech with black around his head, and the other was a dark red with checkered patterns on his chest. They were the Autobot brothers, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe.

"Hey Cee, you getting tired yet?" Jazz asked as he fired his photon rifle at a group of Cons charging at him.

"I'm still running strong, Jazz!" Arcee said. She flipped over a bruiser and slashed his upper body in two from head to crotch. "Not that I'm complaining or anything, but how long are we supposed to keep this up? I just heard that the Cons have some reinforcements coming in."

"We wait until boss-bot gives us the signal." Jazz replied. "We have to keep the doors open for Bee and Wheeljack to pass through."

"I just hope they make it here in one piece." Arcee muttered. A cloaker drone appeared behind her, poised for attack with its thin, sharp blade arms. Far from surprised, Arcee spun around to cut it in half, but a blaster bolt flew over her shoulder, dangerously close to her face, and blew the drone's head off. Arcee glared at Sunstreaker, who fired the shot.

"Watch where you're shooting! You almost shot my head off!" She yelled.

"What, no thank you for saving your tailpipe? Man, you cyber-ninjas are ungrateful." Sunstreaker smirked. "Those stories of your supposedly sweet disposition must be grossly exaggerated."

"She's probably pissed that she won't get so say goodbye to her boyfriend in the Wreckers." Sideswipe remarked. The twins gave each other a high five.

"Go frag yourselves." She muttered.

"Yeah, Cee? Could you hurry it up with the clean up here? I'm due for a wax job in an hour and I don't want that blow hard Windcharger taking my spot." Sunsreaker said rudely.

Arcee scowled at him and prepared to give him a goodbye of her own. A heavily armed bruiser nearly twice her size came rushing at her, shooting his plasma cannon at anything that didn't gave a purple badge like him. He swung a large fist at the pink Autobot, but she flipped over his arm and stabbed her rapiers into his elbow, sending him to the ground. Arcee then kneed him in the face and took off his head in a flurry of sparks and energon. In a single, graceful move, she jumped up and kicked the head, which was like an armored wrecking ball in its own right, at Sunstreaker. She grinned as the morbid projectile hit the golden Autobot square in the face and knocked him down in a daze.

"Wax that you gold plated tin can." Arcee winked.

Elsewhere, the Decepticons were meeting heavy resistance from the Autobots where they were more concentrated, at the gates of the city. These Autobots, the Elita Guard, were a hardy bunch who were trained for heavy combat operations like this, and they were giving the attacking Cons a run for their money. Leading them was a tall white and blue mech with broad shoulders hefting a shock cannon with one hand and an artillery cannon in the other.

" _Ultra Magnus,"_ Optimus's voice came through the comm-channel. " _The Ark is nearly at full power and ready to depart. Wheeljack and Bumblebee are on their way, but they will need a clear path to the city. Can you have your forces cover for them?"_

"We'll try to give them an opening, but it's easier said than done." Ultra Magnus, the Autobot SIC (second in command) reported. "Megatron's throwing everything except Devastator at us."

" _He's desperate, Magnus. Megatron knows that once the Ark is airborne, it could spell disaster for the Decepticons. Our sabotage on the Nemesis only fuels his actions today."_ Optimus said. " _Just buy them enough time to reach the front gates. Once they're in, Perceptor will activate the over-shield you and your team will only have a few nano-kliks to get inside."_

"Roger that Prime. Magnus out." Ultra Magnus turned to his one of his men, a short, stocky Autobot with olive green armor. "Brawn, we have bots out there who need a clear path to the city. I need you to order an airstrike on the Cons in the outer and inner perimeter. Once our boys are inside, I want everyone to fall back within the city walls."

"Yes sir, I already have the Aerialbots on the job as we speak." Just as Brawn said this, a team of five Cybertronian jets flew over head, raining down a hail of missiles on the unsuspecting Cons. Brawn then hefted a large rocket launcher almost as big as him onto his shoulder and grinned. "Come on, guys, let's give our flyboys some cover fire!"

Ultra Magnus, Brawn and the others were laying down heavy fire on the Cons who were distracted with trying to shoot down the Aerialbots. The joint attacks from the ground and sky started to put pressure on the invaders and slowly the Elita Guard was able to push them back. Just in time to, because Wheeljack and Bumblebee were already on their way with a squad of Seekers on their tail. Starscream was in the lead, trying to mow them down with his cannons.

"Pathetic fools!" Starscream roared. "There's no escape!"

Noticing the infamous Seeker commander, Brawn grinned and aimed his thermo-rocket launcher at the Con. Getting a lock on the mech, he pulled the trigger and released three rockets that homed in on Starscream's heat signature. Starscream was so preoccupied that he didn't notice the rockets until they were right on him. One hit him in the nose, while the other two caught him in the underbelly and his wing. He was blasted off balance and sent crashing to the ground smack dab in the middle of a ground unit retreating.

"Ha! That felt great." Brawn laughed.

Wheeljack and Bumblebee zoomed past their fellow Autobots and raced into the city. Once they were in, Ultra Magnus gave the order for his forces to retreat.

"Fall back!" He ordered. "Everyone back into the city!"

The Autoots obeyed without question, disengaging and running back into the city. The Decepticons tried to shoot them down, but the Aerialbots took them down from the air with missile fire. But this didn't deter the Decepticons, whose battle lust was reignited when they saw their enemies making a retreat and chased after them. This made their surprise all the more sweet when Ultra Magnus saw the over-shield come down on the borders of the city. The barrier was already on the ground when the last Autobot was inside. Half of the Decepticon army was blocked from entering, while the poor Cons on the inside had no way out, and were mowed down by the Elite Guard.

External weaponry on top of the fortifications took aim at the rest of the army and rained down a hellish bombardment of plasma fire, killing even more Cons. This sudden assault was enough to make the surviving Cons retreat. Starscream, who had transformed to his robot mode after crashing, saw his platoon retreating and was enraged.

"What the hell are you doing?!" He screamed. "Don't run away! Attack!"

" _STARSCREAM!"_

The aerospace commander flinched at the sound of a raspy voice blaring in his audio sensors. That was the voice of the warlord who was known and feared by friend and foe alike. He hoped that if he didn't answer, the mech on the other line would think that his communications array was shorted out.

" _Starscream, answer me you fool!"_

Well a mech could dream, couldn't he? "W-what is it, Megatron? I'm busy!"

" _Busy, you say? Doing what? Getting our forces massacred?"_

"How did you-"

" _You forget that I can see the whole battle from Laserbeak's eyes."_

Starscream looked up at the sky and saw a red and black bird circling above him. Laserbeak, the Decepticons' prime recon Minicon, was looking down at him with a small camera extended from his forehead, yellow eyes narrowing in spite at the Seeker down below.

'Of course Soundwave's pet would be slinking around here.' Starscream growled internally. "You haven't told me what you want, Megatron."

 _Withdraw our forces from the field at once."_ Megatron ordered. " _This battle is doing nothing but wasting what little energon we have."_

"What? Are you insane?" Starscream yelled, appalled at the very idea of running like a coward. "The Autobots have nowhere to run and you're just-"

" _DO NOT ARGUE WITH ME YOU DOLT!"_ Megatron roared, quickly silencing Starscream. " _Just do as I say! Iacon is of no importance to us anymore now that we've lost access to the city, and your stupidity just cost us a third of our western ground forces. You are in no position to be disobeying me! Now shut up and get back to Styx!"_

"…As you command, Megatron." Starscream spat. He took a deep breath and called his forces. "All units, retreat back to Styx."

A signal flare was shot into the air and the Decepticons immediately started to mobilize out of the area. Inside Iacon, the tired and battered Autobots cheered as they saw the Cons running away from Iacon. It was a small victory in the grand scheme of things, but it was a welcome victory. Seeing as they were fighting on all cylinders 25 hours a day, it was worth it.

XXXXXX

Optimus stood in the Stellar Galleries, a large domed building composed of varying silver alloy that was used in the past as a place where Iacon's greatest thinkers would sit and contemplate their place in the universe and the state of cybertronian affairs. Now it served as a wartime meeting area where Optimus would spend most of his free time alone with his thoughts. Leading an army was hard, and private moments like this were far too few for his liking, but it made them all the more important to him in the long run.

Hanging above him was a holo-display of the Hadeen star system, named after their sun. His gaze was locked on Cybertron, or what it used to look like before the war. The planet was a gleaming silver and blue, looking like a spherical jigsaw puzzle that defied evolution and science in the known universe. He wondered what the planet looked like now, if it still had that gleaming luster from orbit, or if the various explosions and fires made the planet look like some warped, burnt piece of metal that screamed death and chaos. Heaven knows that's how things looked to the rest of the galaxy that once revered them.

He heard the door creak open (it was an old school door that wasn't automatic and had to be pushed open) and large metal footsteps echo throughout the galleries. He turned his head to give Ultra Magnus a greeting nod, which the commander returned stiffly.

"Mission accomplished sir. Wheeljack and Bumblebee are back within the city limits, and are awaiting you in the Ark. The fuel rods they brought with them are giving us the power we need to fully operate the last of the Ark's offensive systems." Ultra Magnus reported. "The Decepticons have retreated to Styx, but there's a massive gathering near the Hydrax spaceport."

"That's troubling news. Megatron must already be planning on launching the Nemesis if he's assembling his force at the Hydrax Plateau." Optimus muttered. "But at least Wheeljack and Bumblebee are still in one piece. They had me worried there for a second."

He meant that. It was hard to find good bots that were as handy with machines like Wheeljack, and Bumblebee was a long time friend who was a breath of fresh air in this grim conflict.

"It was a close call, but nothing the Elite Guard couldn't handle." Ultra Magnus said. "So, when are we launching the Ark?"

Optimus's expression fell. He knew that what he had planned for Magnus wasn't going to sit well with the commander, but it had to be done. "Magnus, there's something you should know."

"Yes, Prime?"

"I want you to stay on Cybertron and lead the Autobots in my stead." Optimus ordered, though it sounded more like a request from a friend.

Ultra Magnus stared at his superior in a rare look of unrestrained shock. "W-what? But why?"

"Listen Magnus, this is a dangerous mission. One that may last for Primus knows how long. During that time the Autobots will be without a proper leader, and will need someone to guide them. And protocol dictates that, that task falls to you."

"But sir, you'll need all the help you can get. Surely someone like Thunderclash or Warden is more suited for the job." Ultra Magnus said.

"Thunderclash and Warden are skilled warriors, but they lack the discipline and experience that comes with leadership, something you have in spades. I believe you have the wit and grit to lead our band of misfits." Optimus chuckled. "And you are certainly more experienced than me when it comes to leading an army. You will be a fine leader, Ultra Magnus, perhaps even greater than I."

"I'm just a soldier, sir. I'm not worthy." Ultra Magnus replied.

"Nor was I. But I have learned that one's true calling is discovered in times of great need. Our survival depends on sacrifices; one in the stars, and one back on the homefront. We will return, Ultra Magnus. Until that day, keep fighting the noblest of fights."

"Yes sir." Ultra Magnus smiled and held out a hand. Optimus shook it gratefully. "Till all are one, Prime."

"Till all are one."

XXXXXX

The Hydrax Plateau was a smooth stretch of land near Cybertron's equator that was home to the planet's larges spaceport. Before the war, ships would come and go from the spaceport, and was the only legal way to properly arrive on the planet without being shot down or deemed an enemy. When the war started to kick up, the Decepticons had mowed down any opposition in the Orbital Torus states, and captured the Hyrdax Spaceport, allowing them control over travel to and from the planet as well as gaining them a vast amount of territory.

The city itself was composed of factories and refineries as well as landing areas for ships entering. The Decepticons used many of Hydrax's facilities to build and repair their warships during their conquest of the planet, but lately technicians were overworked as the war dragged on longer than they had thought. Metal and molten slag were plentiful, but energon, the very lifeblood of all cybertronians and their technology, was in short supply. Hence why the Decepticons were so urgent in the maintenance of one warship in particular.

It was the grandest ship in the Decepticon army, and one that was destined to lead their numbers across the galaxy as they conquered entire worlds. The ship was long and angular, like a multibladed spear that was painted Decepticon purple and looked like it came from an architect's nightmare. This ship had won many battles in the war, and was now being refueled and fixed for possibly its most important mission ever. This was the Nemesis.

As the Decepticons worked in the hangar, deep inside the main citadel was a thrown, and on that throne sat the warlord who started the war overlooking the maintenance of his warship. He was the powerful warlord, Megatron.

Megatron's silver and black armor was smooth, but far from flawless. His large body was layered with thousands of scars and dents from past battles, and on his arm sat a long black fusion cannon, his signature weapon and a symbol of his power over the Decepticons. His hard angled face stared hard at his ship and his blazing red eyes burned behind their optic lens in anticipation for what he believed to be his total victory.

Next to Megatron's throne stood his first lieutenant, Nightshade. If Megatron was large and brutish, then she was lithe and slender. Dark and beautiful, she was a dark purple, almost black coloration with streaks of silver alone her shoulders and thighs, and her head was narrow, with a smooth gray face plate, violet optics and purple painted lips. Unlike her subordinates, Nightshade was an uncommon breed of cybertronian, one who transformed not into a machine or vehicle, but an animal. The most evident of her nature was the slender black bird's head sitting on her chest and the large black feathered wings on her back.

The large door to the throne room opened and the Seekers, the Decepticons aerospace corp, walked in. Nightshade looked them over and frowned. She hated how they all looked like Starscream, but with a different color scheme, even the fragging femmes. Whether this was because of protoform molding or some quirk of genetics common to bots born in Vos, Nightshade thought it was a bit strange.

They assembled in front of their leader and saluted with a fist across the chest…all save Starscream. It was no secret he had a huge disdain for Megatron's rule, and coveted the warlord's position for himself, he wouldn't shut up about it, but he neither had the power or the influence to confront Megatron openly and thus was forced to watch time go by until he had a chance at making his move. Until such an opportunity arose, he had to force himself to deal with Megatron's rule a little while longer. But it didn't stop him from testing Megatron's patience.

"Tell me Starscream," Megatron began as he tapped his finger on his throne's arm rest. "Why is it that you must rush in without a plan and ignore my orders? There was a time when you followed me without question."

"That was before we found ourselves at war with a faction of idealists, scientists and engineers led by a cop turned Prime." Starscream replied, not in the mood for Megatron's slag. "We haven't made much progress in creating your so-called Decepticon Empire when he popped up fearless leader."

In an instant, Megatron was out of his throne in a flash and in front of Starscream before he knew it, and the Seeker earned himself a strong backhand that knocked him to the ground.

"You arrogant fool! If I didn't have need of your services, then I would've killed you on the spot!" Megatron roared, his eyes flashing angrily. "Don't ever challenge my authority again, Starscream. When I say retreat, you retreat! Do you understand that or do I need Thundercracker to draw you a picture?"

The other Seekers in Starscream's entourage laughed at their commander's suffering, they had no pity for him as he gave them a lot of crap on a daily basis because things never went his way half the time. Seeing him get punched around by the mech with the real power was a sight to see. Wiping the energon bleeding from his lip, Starscream stood up straight and glared at Megatron. He wanted to kill the Decepticon leader so badly, but he knew that Nightshade would strike him down before he could even lift his arm to attack. The Seeker commander swallowed his pride and bowed his head in submission.

"I understand, Megatron." He growled.

"Good, just like the obedient dog like you are." Megatron smiled. "Now we can move on to more important matters."

Soundwave, the Decepticon communications officer, walked through the doors with his Minicon servant Laserbeak sitting on his shoulder. He was the best saboteur and espionage agent that the Decepticons had on their roster, but no one could really tell what he was thinking thanks to his lack of significant facial features save for a red visor and white mouth plate. His body was blue and white, tall and bulky, with a cannon on his right shoulder. All the same, Megatron trusted him and Nightshade more than nearly anyone else in the Decepticon army, and they've been with him since the very beginning.

"Soundwave, what do you have to report?" Megatron asked.

Soundwave nodded towards Laserbeak. The Minicon nodded before hopping off his shoulder and transforming into a data-disk, flying into Soundwave's open chest cavity. The front of Soundwave's chest glowed before displaying a hologram of a blue planet.

"The Autobots are planning on taking the space bridge to this planet. According to their data tracks, the planet is located deep within the uncharted region and is populated by primitive life forms." Soundwave droned.

"The space bridge? But that's been left rusting for eons." Nightshade noted.

"They have been rebuilding it under the direction of Alpha Trion." He told her. "They want to save as much fuel as possible for the return trip."

Megatron nodded and looked at Nightshade. "Nightshade, clear up some loose ends and meet me in the hangar."

"Yes, Megatron." She said and walked over to the assembled Seekers. "All right, listen up! Since Starscream is coming with us on the Nemesis, a new leader will be appointed to command the Seekers here on Cybertron in his absence. Slipstream, step forward."

With a grin eerily similar to Starscream's, Slipstream stepped forward before her superior. Much like her Seeker brothers, she looked like a different colored version of Starscream, but with a more slender body frame and armor a lighter shade of purple than Skywarp's mixed with turquoise. She was the only one of Starscream's inner circle who was like him in terms of ambition; namely when it came to seizing power. Starscream liked her drive and determination, but he was always careful when dealing with her. If she was similar to him in other ways, then she wouldn't hesitate to have him killed and make it look like an accident just to obtain his position. The same thing he would do to Megtron, but with a significantly higher success rate.

"Yes, my lady?" Slipstream said in a sickly sweet voice that almost made Starscream gag.

"Due to you position as Starscream's lieutenant, I'm appointing you as designated commander of the Seekers until we return." Nightshade informed her.

Slipstream's lips upturned in a smile. "I'm honored, ma'am. Thank you."

"Now wait just a minute!" Starscream shouted.

"Here we go." Thundercracker sighed. Beside him, Skywarp chuckled.

"Who said you could appoint her as the commander? I'm the only one with the authority to do such a thing!" He growled. Nightshade gave him a dull look.

"I just did. She is the only one qualified to take your place." She said. "Who else would you choose? That big oaf Sunstorm or that moronic sociopath Ramjet?"

"You can't do that!"

"I just did."

Starscream growled and sent a death stare Slipstream's way. She only gave him a cocky smirk in return, and that pissed him off even more. That purple glitch was going to rub this in his face in the future and she was going to be impossible to live with now.

As Nightshade organized things, Megatron stood off to the side with another one of his trusted soldiers. He was conversing with a light violet mech with a large cannon on his right arm and a hexagonal shaped head with a single yellow eye composing his facial features. He was Shockwave, the Decepticon chief scientist.

"Shockwave, I have a task for you."

"What is it you command, lord Megatron?" Shockwave asked in a dark, but robotic voice.

"I am placing you in command of the Decepticons until my return." Megatron said. "Be sure that the Autobots do not gain any ground in my absence."

"Worry not, lord Megatron. Cybertron will be as you've left it."

"See to it that it does not, Shockwave. When I return, I expect any and all Autobots to be dead and Cybertron firmly under Decepticon control. Understood?"

"Yes, my lord." Shockwave nodded. Megatron smirked.

"I knew I could trust you, Shockwave. Unlike some of my other warriors, you never fail me." As he said that, he glared at Starscream, who was still arguing with Slipstream.

Eventually things were settled and it was time to board the Nemesis for the launch and prepare for the long mission ahead. Megatron, Nightshade and Soundwave walked through the dim halls towards the bridge connected to the ship's docking bay. Megatron couldn't help but feel proud at this marvel of Decepticon engineering. The Nemesis had been deployed in few battlefield situations, but when it was set upon the enemy, it pierced Autobot defenses like the tip of a spear. That was its purpose; to act as a siege engine, barreling into enemy territory and dropping troops while laying down heavy fire on the poor souls in its sights.

Once they were in the ship, the trio made their way through the dark, violet lit halls towards the main bridge where their team were stationed waiting for deployment.

"I hope you realize that the Autobots won't just roll over and die when Prime is gone." Nightshade pointed out. "They'll keep fighting and Ultra Magnus is no pushover."

"Which is exactly why I assigned Strika to handle military affairs. Considering her past history with Magnus, she's the right femme for the job of combating him and his accursed Wreckers." Megatron explained.

And she would also keep Shockwave grounded in what's going on outside of his lab. Megatron knew from working with Shockwave that, while loyal, the scientist was someone who spent days, if not weeks, confined within his lab working on whatever hellish creature he created from his dark mind. Shockwave cared only for the pursuit of knowledge, and that was what kept him interested in the war effort at large, and Megarton intended for it to remain that way. Hopefully, Strika could keep him focused on the tasks assigned to him.

"Sicking Magnus' ex on him. Good plan." Nightshade nodded in approval. "So we now have our affairs in order. But that won't mean anything if the Autobots continue to resist us. Someone's got to give, and when that happens, all it takes is one misstep to end the war."

"That's the beauty of it, Nightshade. By leaving in the Ark, Prime separates himself from his forces, his army who worship the very ground he stands upon. Once we kill Prime and his team out in the cold darkness of space, far from Cybertron's embrace, the forces on the surface will despair. They will fight for a little while longer, but soon the depression will set and the hopelessness of their no-win situation will force them to either surrender or kill themselves out of shame." Megatron grinned. "If you can't beat an enemy with brute force, then you must shatter their mind, spread the seed of doubt through their thoughts like a disease. Prime is their light, and once we snuff that light out, nothing can stop us."

'Megatron certainly has a way with words. Good to see that hasn't wasted away.' She thought.

"And once they've reached their limit, we will grant them a merciful death." He finished.

"Then we've won the war?"

The door slid open to reveal the massive room at the very front of the large warship, the bridge, were their team was assembled at their battle stations. There was Starscream and his Seekers, Skywarp and Thundercracker, along with a few new faces chosen for the expedition: Lugnut, a tall and burly mech with a single red eye and large three pronged hands that could crush a bot's head with ease. Barricade, the black and white warrior with a mouth who was a skilled infiltrator and fighter. Blackout, a dark, steel gray Con who was adept at aerial combat. Knockout, a deep red mech who was the team's medic with a huge narcissistic streak. And then there were Rumble and Frenzy, twin Minicons who were apart of Soundwave's proxies.

Megatron sat in his command chair, which was shaped like a throne, and gave the order to prepare the ship for take-off.

"Yes, Nightshade, the war will be over." Megatron smiled at the view of the Hyrax Plateau. "And Cybertron will be remade in our image."

XXXXXX

The launch site of the Ark was silent save for the sound of klaxons and metal boots running across the base as the launch time neared. The area was cleared of any equipment and personnel once the final pre-flight checks were made along with any last minute adjustments.

Optimus Prime was walking along the catwalk to the Ark's docking bay, talking with one of his most trusted officers, Ironhide. Ironhide was an old war hawk (but not as old as Kup) who knew the ins and outs of warfare thanks to his experience fighting Quintessons and rouge factions during the second cybertronian war. He was bright red, and heavily armored enough to take on a tank-former head on with minor damages. Not that he would need to with the two cannons on his forearms.

"So everything has been cleared?" Optimus asked.

"Yup. Wheeljack is double-checking the Ark's energon levels and the transwarp drive as we speak." Ironhide confirmed.

"Again?"

"He wants to make sure everything's runnin' fine. He says he wants to make sure we have a safe trip, but it's just the nerves getting to him." Ironhide replied with a shrug. "Anyway, I'm gonna need you to check out our supplies and munitions to see…Prime? Prime, you hearin' me?"

Optimus wasn't listening, as his attention was drawn to the figure standing on the catwalk in front of them. Ironhide followed his line of sight, and mouthed a silent "oh" in realization.

Elita-1 was standing in front of the Ark like a lone stone statue sitting amongst a city of steel and bronze. She was a rose colored femme who had a larger and taller frame than femmes usually had, with matrix-blue eyes and soft pink lips turned down in a visible frowned. Like Optimus, she had a strong, almost regal aura about her that gravitated people to her like starving people to the sun. Elita-1 was Optimus's conjux endura-his spouse and life partner-and was the leader of the all-female Autobot strike team, the Valkyries.

Seeing that he was in the middle of a very tense silent exchange, Ironhide cleared his throat and quickly made his way towards the entry hatch. "I'm just gonna check on the kids. See ya on the bridge, Prime."

Ironhide was quick to go out of sight, not wanting to witness a possibly stressful parting between lovers. Not to mention that he didn't want to be reminded of the femme he was also leaving behind in the process. No one was leaving this planet without regrets, it would seem.

Now they were alone. Neither Optimus nor Elita-1 made to say anything, and just let the silence wash over them in an uncomfortable wave. After a minute or two, Elita-1 decided to be the first to fire the opening salvo.

"So you're leaving." Elita-1 said.

"Yes." Optimus nodded. It was all he could say to that, and he knew she was hurting as much as he was.

"Without me." It wasn't a question.

"I didn't want to do this, Elita, but it had to be done."

"No it doesn't. Let me come along! I can help, and so can my Valkyries!" She exclaimed.

"Elita," Optimus walked over to her until they were about a foot apart. "Our war is killing Cybertron, and now it's spreading to other worlds. Thousands of lives, both organic and mechanical have been lost and it can't go on like this anymore."

"But-"

"Ultra Magnus is in charge in my absence, and your place is here on Cybertron with your Valkyries. There is a reason my team is small, Elita, and that's because I don't want to take anymore Autobots from the real war effort on this planet." He explained. "And I doubt Chromia is willing to accept you leaving your team behind without warning to come with us."

Elita-1 said nothing. She knew deep down she couldn't really leave her Valkyries. She knew he was right, but that didn't mean she had to like it. She looked at her feet, not looking at Optimus as he walked past her, but she jumped when she felt his large hand take hold of hers.

"I will come back, Elita. I promise." He said softly. "I swear upon the Allspark that when I return, I will end this war one way or another."

Elita-1 remained silent, but she gripped his hand tighter until it fell from her grasp as he walked away from her.

'I promise.'

XXXXXX

Optimus walked onto the bridge of the Ark, which was bright and gold just like the gold alloy that dominated Iaconian architecture. His Autobots were all sitting at their stations as he wearily sat down into the chair and stared out the window at the wall of stars hanging above them. How many of those stars had worlds orbiting them? How many of those worlds were dragged kicking and screaming into their war? He really hoped that the number was low. This war had taken enough lives already.

His crew consisted of a small, but capable team of Autobots that he had the pleasure of meeting. The young but skilled yellow scout, Bumblebee. The stylish silver mech Jazz and his pink and white student, the cyber-ninja Arcee. His good friend and bodyguard, Ironhide and Ratchet, their resident medic. Wheeljack the team's mechanical engineer and Bulkhead, a former wrecker transferred over from Springer's command. Then finally his second in command on the team, Prowl, ever vigilant, ever stoic. All of them were capable warriors and soldiers fighting for the preservation of their home and society. Altogether, they weren't much, but Optimus knew that quality was better than quantity.

Ironhide looked back at Optimus and nodded. He then began the final countdown on the launch sequence.

Ultra Magnus, Elita-1 and the rest of the Autobot army all watched from the Decagon as the Ark's thrusters flared up brightly and the ship started to rise into the air in a spectacular display of fire and smoke. They kept their gaze on the ship for as long as they could see it flying into the planet's upper atmosphere. Soon, the ship was just a glittering light in the night sky.

"All systems are functional, Prime." Prowl announced. "We've broken free of the planet's atmosphere."

"Good. Ironhide, set us on a course for the space bridge." Optimus ordered.

"Hold up, we're using that old thing?" Bumblebee asked. "But I thought all the space bridges were destroyed?"

"There is one space bridge that's still operational near Solomus. I had it rebuilt in secret by Wheeljack's team, and it's been programmed to bring us to our destination." Optimus said. "The less energy we use from the transwarp drive, the better."

He looked out the window at the area of space near Cybertron's second moon, Solomus. There was a ring of debris orbiting the planet, the remains of space bridges; intergalactic gateways used by their people long ago to travel great distances within minutes. Most were little more than clusters of debris, and some were warped rings of burnt, twisted metal. The one that Optimus marked at operational still retained its shape, but the sight of it didn't inspire confidence.

"Almost there," Optimus muttered, clenching his hands. "Come on."

Then the klaxon alarms started going off and everyone became alert, checking Teletran-1 for abnormal readings.

"What is it?" Optimus asked calmly, though he was inwardly cursing the fates for this downturn of luck.

"We've got company, boss-bot." Jazz announced and pointed at the main monitor. On the large screen was the looming maw of the Nemesis warship that could give the Decepticons' Thanatos-class battleships a run for its money, flying towards them at high speeds. Optimus narrowed his eyes.

'So Megatron, even though Cybertron is yours, you'd throw it all away to pursue me to the far corners of the universe.' He thought. 'So be it. If Cybertron's preservation means you following me to the ends of this galaxy, then that is a price I'm willing to pay.'

"Prowl, will they catch us before we reach the space bridge?" Optimus asked.

Prowl did the calculations in his mind and shook his head. "It's too close to call, Prime."

Not the least perturbed by the results, Optimus ordered Ironhide to increase powers to the main thrusters. "We need to go faster."

The Ark's engines let out a low hum as their output was increased gradually. The ship sped towards the ancient gateway, with the Nemesis also increasing its velocity to reach the Ark, but not enough to match its speed. A raid on the ship's energon supplies earlier that year by Jazz and his saboteur team could be credited to that.

"Faster!" Megatron slammed his fist on the arm of his throne. "I said faster damn you!"

"Megatron, our engines are not at full capacity for such a drastic fuel increase." Soundwave reported, but Megatron was having none of this.

"Shut up, Soundwave! Redirect power from our weapons if you must! Just get us closer!" He shouted.

Soundwave did as he was told, redirecting power from the ship's secondary weapons towards the main engines. Soon both ships were in a race for the space bridge and the outcome was not going to be pretty for both ships.

When Optimus would look back on these events, which happened in a short measure of time, it would go like this; the space bridge, unused for more centuries than anyone could remember functioned-for a moment. Its light enveloped the Ark in its luminous embrace for a few short seconds. Then the Nemesis rammed into the Ark before the space bridge could fully process the ship, causing the bridge to collapse and disintegrate within an impossibly small unit of time. This caused the bridge to release enough energy to momentarily tear the fabric of time and through that tear fell the Ark and Nemesis.

Then all that was left in their wake was…nothing.

XXXXXX

They would emerge light years away from Cybertron into the orbit of a blue planet, the target destination the Ark was supposed to arrive to. A large green portal opened up in the planet's upper atmosphere and from this ripple in space flew the two ships, flung violently into real space with great force. Unable to slow their descent or even maneuver their ships correctly, the vessels were caught in the planet's gravitational pull and began their descent towards the planet.

"No, no, no!" Megatron roared as he saw the Ark drifting away from them. "Bring us in closer!"

"We can't! Our ship's in freefall! Nothing is responding, not even the nav computer or the maneuvering thrusters!" Nightshade said.

Starscream held on to the dashboard for dear life and tried not to scream like a newborn protoform. That little bit of restraint soon vanished upon seeing that they were falling towards one of the planet's large oceans.

"We're going to crash!"

"Brace yourselves!"

The Nemesis crashed nose first into the ocean, the tremendous impact being strong enough to rip the armor from the ship's outer hull an warp the spiked, curved front of the warship in on itself. A hole was blasted in the cargo bay and water flooded in like a tsunami, causing the ship to sink faster. Within minutes, the Nemesis was buried beneath the waves in a towering geyser of water, never to be seen again.

Meanwhile the Ark was falling towards one of the northwestern continents in a fiery ball of destruction. Prowl and Ironhide were trying to gain control of the ship but nothing was going for them, and Teletran-1 wasn't responding to any commands.

"Prowl, pull us up!" Bumblebee yelled.

"It's no use. Nothing is working." Prowl grunted.

"I only have controlled of the rear thrusters. The most I can do is a controlled crash!" Ironhide said.

"Do it!" Optimus shouted.

The Ark's maneuvering thrusters flared up for a moment, giving the ship enough thrust to get out of its nose dive, but they were still falling. Now they weren't going to crash into the ground, but they were heading straight towards a mountain.

"Prepare for impact!" Optimus yelled.

The Ark soared over a forest, smashing apart the treetops and sending the local wildlife running in fear. The ship uprooted a small quarter of the forest before it finally crashed into the side of the mountain with great force, sending pieces of metal and rocks flying everywhere. It hit the mountain so hard that half the ship was buried in the rock.

Inside, the Autobots were thrown violently from their seats. Optimus hit the console in front of him before crashing back into his seat, hitting his head on the back of the chair. Before he went offline, Optimus felt a warm feeling emanating from his chest as the Matrix of Leadership started to glow within his chest cavity. He felt his whole body grow warm before stasis fell upon him. Then all went dark.


	2. Earthfall part 2

Chapter 2-Earthfall part 2

Four million years had passed since they crashed on this strange planet. Much has changed since this world's primordial era. Mountains have risen and fallen, islands were raised form the sea only to be swallowed up once more, and whole continents were split apart and drifted away from each other. This world was still home to organic creatures, but not the powerful reptiles that once dominated the land. Instead a new bipedal species with great intelligence rules this new world-Terra.

They were called Humans, a young but violent species that have called Terra their home for thousands of years. They have waged many wars within the span of their lifetime, for reasons that vary greatly. Humanity has spread to almost every possible environment on their world, thanks in part due to their general adaptability and willingness to change. Such traits have lead to the creation of great innovations built for the pursuit of knowledge...and the pursuit of war.

Optimus Prime couldn't help but marvel at how alike these humans were to the cybertronians of times past.

Standing atop a cliff overlooking the half buried Ark in the side of a dormant volcano known as Mount St. Helens, Optimus lamented the situation that his team was in. The Ark, a ship that thousands of Autobots literally gave their lives for so that it could be protected, was grounded. It was barely operational and even now the Autobots were still repairs on it. Even still, the situation was grim for Team Prime, they were stuck on a planet light years from Cybertron with no way to contact their comrades.

Were Elita-1 and the other Autobots still fighting? Is the war over, or is it still being fought? Is there even a Cybertron anymore?

Optimus didn't want to think of all the grim possibilities that may or may not be true.

A year had passed since they awakened from their stasis and much of their time was spent either repairing the ship or exploring the world they were stranded on. As per protocol they first acquired vehicle modes matching the local of their environment before exploring.

Optimus had made it a habit to learn more about humanity. They were no different from some of the other organic races he encountered in the past; dual gendered, and reasonably primitive technological level of advancement. But one thing stood out to Optimus.

The humans were divided into two sub-groups; naturals and espers. Naturals were the majority, normal people with nothing special about them. Espers were humans born with superpowers like super speed and telekinesis, as well as physical mutations. Such powers often lead to espers being seen as freaks and monsters.

Optimus saw the growing divide between naturals and espers and saw the similarities to the social divides between the classes back on Cybertron, the divides that had sparked the Uprising and later the Great War. It seemed that Cybertron didn't have a monopoly on war mongers.

A chirp from his comm-link claimed his attention. " _Optimus? Jazz and Prowl just returned from their patrol."_

"On my way. Ironhide."

Reminded once more of his duties in the present, the Autobot leader climbed down from his spot on the ledge overlooking the Ark. Things had been quiet in the past year since their awakening on this planet, but Prime knew that things were going to change soon.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Tranquility was a city that was located in the state of Dakote in northeastern Delpoi. Located in the middle of a dense forest, it was named for its peaceful and tranquil atmosphere that only nature can provide. Aside from a large lake a few miles from the city and the wonderful sight of the mountains in the distance, Tranquility didn't have much to offer any visitors. All in all, it was just a boring, normal city.

But for Darren Radcliffe, it was home.

The thirteen year old boy with short black hair and emerald green eyes sat on his bed, absentmindedly levitating four metal marbles over his palm. He didn't really have to think about doing anything as he used his powers, this was nothing. The balls orbited his hand like miniature planets in orbit around a sun, a low hum audible as Darren controlled him with his mind. He was busy reading a news report on the home page of his laptop about some current events surrounding a very controversial topic.

 **Today's Top Story: Esper Response Division uncovers and neutralizes esper nest in with no civilian casualties.**

"Wonderful, more news on indiscriminate killing." Darren muttered and continued reading the article. He saw several pictures of destroyed vehicles, and civilians running to escape the violence between the rabid espers and the ERD soldiers fighting them.

 **Were these esper terrorists behind the recent anti-human bombings in New York and Washington? Police say the evidence is undeniable, but human rights Amnesty International have condemned the action as "inhumane and unconstitutional" provoking a stern response from Valerie Cooper of the Commission of Superhuman Affairs...**

The article cuts to a photo of a young blonde woman in a crisp blue suit addressing the pubic at a press conference. " _How can anyone question the ERD's actions after the Washington Annihilation is beyond me. Our job is to protect the country from superhuman threats and the president, as well as myself, believe that is exactly what we're doing."_

 **The CSA chairwoman was of course referring to Karaba's devastating bomb blast on Captiol Hill only seven days ago. And the recent broadcasts from Erik Lehnsherr, the death cult's self proclaimed leader...**

There was a video showing the blurry image of a crimson armored figure sitting regally on a throne of gold. He was a middle aged man with a strong build and had short grey hair, but even just from looking at his picture, Darren could tell that this man was very powerful and had no problem showing that power off.

 _"This is only the beginning. Some would say that I am a terrorist, but I like to think of myself as a savior, a savior who looks out for man's successor, Espers. No longer will we live in fear of those inferior homo sapiens-soon it will be the naturals who will know fear. Naturally our attacks on this cess pool of a country will continue until you cede this land to its rightful owners. But your gods grow impatient. And you don't want to know what happens when our patience runs out."_

"Hey Darren."

"Gah!" Darren nearly fell off his bed as he jumped up in alarm, losing control over the marbles and let them drop to the floor. He took a moment to calm himself before glaring at his unwelcome visitor. "Damn it Annie, you ever heard of knocking?"

Annie, his twin sister, merely grinned in response. She was the younger twin (though that is to be debated) and shared his black hair and green eyes. She was dressed in a sleeveless black shirt that showed off her toned arms (courtesy of martial arts training) and a black skirt with combat boots.

"Hey bro, what ya doing?" She asked.

"Just fooling around on the computer, nothing you need to concern yourself with." Darren said I a snarky tone. Annie blatantly looked at his laptop and frowned at what she saw. When she gave him a look, he had the decency to ask, "What?"

"You shouldn't be watching stuff like this you know. You know how Marina warned you of your anxiety attacks." Annie scolded him and motioned to the article on the screen. "And this isn't helping at all.

"I cant help it," Darren grumbled and he snatched the laptop from her. "As an esper I have a right to be afraid. Those ERD thugs don't exactly discriminate between friend or foe. Heaven help me if any of them come sniffing around our neck of the woods."

"But they wont, because no one comes to Tranquility. And why are you worried? You're a telekinetic, you can hide your powers. Be glad you aren't just a burning skeleton like that dude from Ontario. Man he looked wicked." She said and noted his withering glare. "What? I'm just saying that as a telekinetic, you can probably take those ERD guys no problem." Then she added, "If you actually practiced and didn't skimp like a wuss-"

"Why are you here, Annie?" He asked, already getting tired of her.

"Well, aside from telling your that Marina has breakfast ready, I'm here to inform you that we will be going out into the forest to do some exploring." Annie said smiling.

"Who's we?"

"You, me and Gina."

"Good lord, you got Gina in on this?" He groaned.

"Not yet, but I know she'll say yes when I show her what I found."

He really wasn't liking her smile. "And what did you find?"

"Not telling," She said in a sing-song voice. "You'll have to come with me to find out."

By rights, he should have heeded the warning flags that shot up in his mind, but Darren's curiosity won out. "Fine, I'll come with you."

"Really? You're not just saying that to get rid of me right? Because if you don't come later I'm gonna hunt your ass down."

"GO!" He shouted. He released a telekinetic wave that shoved Annie off his bed and outside his room, shutting the door in the same motion.

"I'm guessing that's a yes then." Her muffled voice said outside the door.

'Dear Gaia, how are we related?' Darren thought.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Bumblebee weaved through the trees, his metal feet barely audible on the foliage of the forest ground that was situated near Mount St. Helens. He kept is external sensors pointed outwards in all directions as kept his hand on his blaster, finger near the trigger but not on it.

He moved to find cover so as to get rid of that feeling of being watched but as he did so, his sensors let out a warning before he rolled to the side to avoid a bolt that sailed over his shoulder. He righted himself and fired a few shots in the direction where the bolts came from then stopped. No one was shooting back. He realized his guard just a bit, but when he hear the branches above him rustle, he looked up and saw a dark figure descend upon him.

Bumblebee rolled to the side to avoid getting landed on and spun around to point his blaster at the assailant, who did the same to him. They kept their weapons trained on each other for a moment before lowering them.

"I thought we were supposed to be training together Arcee. You nearly scared me half to death." Bumblebee said.

"Sorry, had to make sure you weren't the enemy. You know you can never be too careful." Arcee said, not looking away from the forest around them. Bumblebee had to marvel at how she could talk and stay focused at the same time but considering who they were dealing with, such concentration was necessary. "That light show probably gave away our position. We better move before he finds a chance to get the jump on us."

"You mean like now?"

Jazz landed between them and kicked Bumblebee away. Arcee tried to shoot him but he kicked the blaster from her hands and leapt at her. Arcee back-flipped and drew her energon blades, slashing at Jazz with quick strikes that he easily dodged. Jazz took out his laser nunchucks and batted the blades away with hard blows that sent vibrations running up Arcee's arms.

Bumblebee stood up and fired his blaster. Jazz flipped over Arcee, using her as a shield to block the bolts, which were set to stun, and kicked her into the scout. Both Autobots went tumbling into each other, but Arcee quickly righted herself to face Jazz. Only to see him gone.

"Scrap." She cursed. She felt a presence behind her and spun around only to get bonked on the head by one of his nun-chucks went tumbling to the ground in a daze.

Bumblebee jumped up and tried to grab at Jazz, but he grabbed the scout's arm and twisted it, sending the scout spinning in the air before he was kicked into a tree. Jazz jumped on him and pointed his nunchaku at Bumblebee's face.

"And that's game." Jazz grinned. He got off Bumblebee and helped him up. "You guys did good. A lot better than yesterday."

"That doesn't help my self esteem." Bumblebee grumbled. "Why did I agree to this again?"

"You needed some help with your hand to hand combat style. That's why." Jazz answered. He walked over to Arcee and helped her up. "You okay, Cee?"

"Did you have to hit me so hard? My head is ringing." She hissed.

"Sorry. Just needed to make sure you were out for the count. You're a hard girl to keep down." Jazz stepped back and looked at the two Autobots. "Now, tell me, what did you two do wrong?"

Bumblebee was at a loss at how to answer that question, but Arcee was right on the dot. "We weren't exactly working as a team."

"Exactly. When going up against a strong opponent, always have someone with you to help you out and watch your back. Working as a coherent unit increases your chances of success and survival."

"So if we work together next time, does that mean that we might be able to beat you?" Bumblebee asked hopefully.

"Nah, it'll be a long time before that happens." Jazz snorted. "But it will make fighting a dysfunctional group like the Decepticons a lot easier. Prmius knows they're teamwork is atrocious."

"Modest isn't he?" Bumblebee muttered. Arcee chuckled.

"No, just telling it how it is. Come on, we've got recon duty in five."

"Oh joy."

XXXXXX

Gina Harkins sat in her history class taking notes diligently as her teacher read out the current subject they were doing. She was a cute blonde girl with a pair of large round glasses over blue eyes and a noticeably more developed body than girls her age, an early bloomer. Unlike most of her classmates, she was paying attention to the lecture the teacher was giving.

"The Arian Empire was considered to be the most advanced civilization of the ancient world and is widely considered to be the forefathers of our modern civilization." Diana Masters, 6th grade history teacher at Heartsgrace middle school, gave each of her students a glance as she walked through the classroom, making sure they were taking notes and not having secret conversations. "Their existence dates as far back as 3000 BC, in an era where many countries around the world were largely isolated and primitive in terms of social and technological developments. But that all changed when the Arians made a small but very significant discovery that helped their empire expand. Any ideas on what that discovery was?"

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Gina raise her hand. "Yes Gina?"

"It was Hephaestium?" Gina answered.

"Correct." Diana nodded. "The early Arians discovered hephaestium and had learned to harness its properties to grant them a whole arsenal of new technologies that advanced their development. Despite being primitive by today's standards, they had created machines that we still have yet to replicate, such as the Vimana, and the Golems, automatons that our modern day Talos were based on. We still have yet to understand how the Golems operated without any manual controls, but any information on them was lost in the Great Cataclysm that began the Void Century." The bell rang as she finished. "Class dismissed, and remember to read pages 28-31 in your textbooks for Monday's quiz."

As numerous students filed out of the classroom, Gina was quick to head towards her locker, her mind still on the lecture. Being the daughter of an archaeologist, Gina has always had a certain level of interest in what the past had to offer. She enjoyed the challenge it brought in finding out things that no one else has before, and the Arian Empire was the pinnacle of such challenges.

"Gina!"

She looked down the hall to see Darren walk towards her and she felt a smile automatically spread across her face. Seeing her best friend always brought a smile to her face.

"Darren, hey." Gina smiled at her friend. "How was your day?"

"It went about as well as it could without Fred and Billy trying and failing to shoot spitballs at me." Darren said.

Gina pictured Darren's tormentors trying to shoot spitballs at him in class, only for the boy to easily deflect them all with his powers. It must have been something to see.

"So, I wanted to ask you if you've ran into Annie today." Darren said. "Did she mention anything about a special something she wanted to show us?"

"Nope. But she was strangely more uppity than usual during gym this morning." Gina said. "And I suppose you have a reason for that?"

"She wants us to meet up with her afterschool. Where, I don't know, and why, I don't know either. But I am reasonably nervous as for what she has planned for us." He replied. He chuckled when Gina lightly punched his shoulder.

"Be nice. She's not that bad."

"Bro, Gina!"

They turned to see Annie run up to them, nearly knocking over a teacher who was passing by without so much as a sorry.

"So Gina, did Darren give you the rundown of what's going on afterschool?" Annie asked.

"He did, and we're both wondering what exactly is so special that you look like a kid on Christmas morning." Gina said. Annie merely grinned and tapped her on the nose.

"That's something that I'm not telling you until later." She said. "Darren, remember that mountain that mom took us to last summer?"

"You mean the one where you almost caused a rock slide with your big mouth?"

"Yeah. That one." She said dryly and turned to Gina. "I found something around there and I wanted to go check it out with you guys. I already have Darren hooked, but I wanted to know if you were-"

"I'm coming." Gina cut in with a huge smile. "You should know that I love digging around to things in the dirt."

"Good. Just head over to that cave entrance and I'll tell you the rest. Now I gotta go, see ya!"

Darren watched his sister run back down the hall towards her next class, once again almost knocking over the same teacher she mowed down earlier.

"I really hope that this doesn't blow up in our faces." He groaned. Gina smiled at him.

"Don't worry Darren, you won't into any trouble with me around!"

"That's because I'll be too busy keeping you out of trouble instead."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The lazily named Decepticon Island (which no one liked but weren't suicidal enough to tell Megatron about it) was a large island located somewhere in the Florecio ocean, east of Azteca near the equator. The island was mostly devoid of life save for the migratory species that had made the island their home. The volcano that sparked the birth of the island loomed over the landscape, dormant and covered in a faint coat of grass.

Megatron stood on the rim of the volcanic crater looking down at the Nemesis. The ship was in bad condition, with much of the outer hull riddled with holes and armor plating sheered away from the devastating impact of crashing into the ocean. Forget the front of the ship that was a lost cause. And the rear thrusters were completely shot, worn away from spending a millennia in the sea.

It was fortunate that they crashed on the same bedrock that would later form the island, lest they ship still be underwater. The volcano was dormant, but there was an underlying danger that even a small but drastic shift in the tectonic plates could cause it to erupt, or an explosive force of great magnitude would be needed. Thank god that Rumble was smart enough not to use his pile-driver arms in a volcano.

When he awoke, Megatron thought he was dead, one with the Alllspark with all of his goals unfulfilled, but it too a moment for him to realize that he was still alive. However upon seeing the condition of his mighty flagship…to say that he was super mad would be a gross understatement.

They were low on energon, their ship was grounded, they couldn't communicate with the rest of their forces, and they were stuck on a backwater planet in some unknown corner of the galaxy. The only thing that was going for them was that they had the facsimiles. But even then they couldn't enact the infiltration plan until they got rid of the Autobots!

The infiltration plan was standard protocol for all Decepticons stationed off-world. It was basically a six-phase plan that involved secretly manipulating the native populace and have them tear each other apart, all while they drained the planet of all available resources. That is, if the Autobots don't come and send everything straight to hell first.

"Megatron."

He looked up to see a large black raven descend upon him. Just before it landed it let out a cry and transformed into a lithe femme with black and white armor. Nightshade, his second in command.

"How is the search going?" He asked.

"Lugnut and Blackout found another energon mine on the western continent. Starscream and his seekers are out scavenging materials to repair the ship with, so they'll be a while in getting back. I myself just came back from stealing prototype equipment from the human research centers to repair our computers."

"Equipment? From the humans?" Megatron scoffed. "Nightshade, we have our pride as Decepticons to worry about. There's no need to stoop so low."

"In case you haven't noticed, the Nemesis' equipment is in bad shape as is the rest of the ship. Not to mention that we're lucky the engines didn't explode and blow us all straight to hell, so yeah, I needed to improvise." She replied cattily. "But if you have any other suggestions on how to fix them, be my guest."

Had it been anyone else, Megatron would've struck them down for speaking to him like that. But Nightshade was, one of his best warriors and among his closest confidants. She was his successor should he fall, which was very unlikely, and thus she was given a bit more leeway than most soldiers.

"Just have Soundwave transport the Drillers to Lugnut's position."

"As you command Megatron." Nightshade said smirking and transformed into beast mode again and shooting into the air.

Megatron watched her fly away for a moment before he made his way down the slope towards the ship. There was work to be done.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"I still don't get why you want to explore this place. Not like we're gonna find anything."

Annie gave her brother a grin as she set her skateboard next to her brother's bike alongside a prominent outcropping.

"Come on, this'll be fun!" she said. "When was the last time we've done something like this together?"

"Two weeks ago, when I broke my leg after you pushed me off a damn cliff." Darren answered. she had the decency to look a bit sheepish at that.

"Well, in my defense I thought that the lake was a little closer to us. But come on, have an open mind about this. It will be great practice for using your powers."

Darren sighed but decided to humor Annie. "Alright, if you wanna do this then fine. But if I die, I'm coming back to haunt you."

"Deal"

At that moment Gina arrived on her special all-terrain moped, one she made with Darren's help a few weeks ago, an parked it next to Darren's bike.

"Hey guys! I'm all ready for our cave adventure!" Gina said grinning. Darren gave her moped a curious look.

"You came here on your moped?"

"Yeah, it's all terrain for a reason, Darren, a hell of a lot better than the crap Fred's dad sells. Those motorbikes can suck it!" She said. Darren shook his head and took some time to study their surroundings.

Rising out of the landscape before them was a small mountain, one of many tat dotted the landscape outside Tranquility, just east of the downtown area, being within an hour's bike ride of the suburb the three lived in. The area was safe enough for the three kids to visit, albeit unattended and unsupervised.

"So here we are, Annie. Now can you tell us why we're here?" He asked.

Annie reached into her bag and pulled out a large blue crystal that emitted a faint glow in the dim light of the trees. Gina and Darren both crowded around her and let out a soft 'whoa' upon seeing the strange crystal.

"Oh my god." Gina gaped. "What is it?"

"No idea. I found it around this cave while I was doing some off-roading on my skateboard." Annie said.

"You don't know what it is?" Darren questioned.

"I thought it was hephaestium, but when I took it to our science teacher, that crazy lady Ms. Maria, she said that it was nothing like hephaestium. She said something about it not having the same properties or whatever and was a completely different mineral."

"No way, Annie you just discovered a new mineral! This is so exciting!" Gina gushed.

"I know, how much do you think people will pay for this?" Annie said with dollar signs flashing in her eyes.

"Forget the money Annie! This might be a new power source that could rival hephaestium if we find enough of it!"

Darren was also a bit intrigued by this discovery. Hephaestium was a naturally occurring mineral on Terra and formed the backbone of human technological advancement as a power source, burning hotter than coal and capable of conducting different forms of energy. It powered machines ranging from airships to Talos, but no one new what exactly it was. The only thing that everyone was certain about it was that it mankind was highly dependent on it.

"So are you guys in or out?" Annie asked.

"Oh you know I'm in! How can I pass up this opportunity?" Gina said and looked at the only male in their group. "Darren?"

"Yeah, count me in. Someone has to keep you two out of trouble."

"Great, let's get out little expedition started!"

"We're exploring for hidden treasure!" Gina cheered.

"Girls, please be careful." Darren warned them. But the girls paid him no heed as they switched on their flashlights and entered the cave.

"I'm so excited!"

"I know right?"

"And they ignore me." Darren sighed.

He followed the girls into the cave, switching on his flashlight. The cave was small, barely large enough for the three of them to walk through without bending down.

"Be mindful of where you step." Gina said. "They're probably a few bats here."

"Wonderful." Darren muttered, not too fond of stepping in bat guano.

As they continued, their lights keeping them aware of their surroundings in the tunnel, the three children remained cautious. Suddenly they came upon something unexpected.

"Wait a second," Darren said attracting the attention of his companions. "Look!"

"Where?" Gina asked.

"At the wall, right where my flashlights beam ends."

They noticed the light reflected off to where the beam ended. Unlike the rocky jagged cave walls, the spot was smooth and silverfish.

"Some kind of crystal?" Darren implored as Gina walked forward and studied it.

"Wait, this isn't rock. It's some kind of metal."

"Metal?" Annie snorted. "What you think it could be some kind of UFO?"

"Let's not jump to any conclusions." Gina replied quickly. She felt along the surface and, feeling something akin to a door, then added, "Then again, you may be right."

Placing her bag down, and setting her flashlight on it so the light was on her, Gina reached in and pulled out a crowbar.

"Where did you get a crowbar from?" Darren asked. Gina smirked cattily at him.

"An explorer is always prepared." She said. Putting the crowbar against the hatch, she pushed down on the hatch as hard as she could but the doors would not budge. Stopping to take a breath, she looked at the twins.

"A little help would be nice."

Darren cracked his neck and focused on using his power to open the hatch. As a telekinetic, his esper powers had endless potential, but he rarely used them for anything more than lifting a couch. With his hands, he reached out and made like he was prying the doors apart. Gina and Annie were slightly amazed to see that the hatch was indeed beginning to shake and groan and slowly lift apart. Finally the hatch opened with a loud bang.

"There, easy as pie." Darren panted. That was harder than he thought. He knew other epsper with similar powers that could do it with little to no problem, but they were few and far in between.

"Great job bro." Annie said, patting her brother on the back.

"Okay Annie, looks like you finally shot straight for once." Gina gulped as she viewed her their handiwork. "It might actually be a UFO."

"Sweet." Annie smiled. "So, what do we do now?"

"We go inside." Gina answered. "For all we know, this could be a genuine first contact situation. And I am definitely hype enough at being one of the first humans to meet an alien."

Gina picked up a crowbar from underneath the hatch. At her friends' questioning look, she merely said, "For protection."

The kids looked at each other, then Darren decided to lead the way through the hatch. The moment he stepped through, however, the small structure suddenly became illuminated, strong artificial lights blinking into existence.

"Must be automatic." Darren noted.

"Wow," Gina gasped. "This place is amazing."

The pod was large, about the size of a small dining room in a modern home. It was circular, with a few computer displays made near the hatch and a group of six metal pod-like devices in the center of the support column.

"Well this isn't so bad." Darren said as he moved towards the center column. "No way this wasn't made by human hands, just look at the writing. We better not-"

A high pitch alarm rang out, forcing all three to cover their ears. Darren looked over as Annie pressed a button and shut the alarm off. She gave a weak laugh in response her companions' glares. "Oops, sorry."

Gina let out an exasperated sigh. "Nice going, Annie, 'oh, a shiny red button, let's press it and see what it does.' You're lucky we're still talking to each other."

"Hey I said I was…" another beeping sound went off. Annie raised her hands. "That totally wasn't me."  
A small portion of the console extended outwards, a black and yellow object rising from it. It looked like a digital camcorder, but then it shifted in shape, a head, legs, and wing-like appendages emerging from it.

The small robotic bird tested its joints and looked around with its camera-like lens, its head bobbing up and down. Darren asked what was on both their minds. "What is it?"

"Some kind of robot." Just as Gina spoke those words the robot bird activated tiny jets on its wings, leapt off the console and flew out of the pod, back the way they had come from.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Several quick beeps roused the attention of Blackout as he began to drift off, prompting him to return his attention to the computer he was stationed at. Boredom from hiding and no action had become so unsatisfying that Blackout hoped that his superiors didn't mind him taking a nap. He gave no shits about Starscream but Primus help him if Nightshade found him snoozing. Just as he checked over the readings, it stopped.

"Okay, that's weird."

"Something wrong Blackout?"

Jumping a bit from his seat, he said, "Just for a couple of nano-kliks, Nightshade. It was an old cybertronian signal, extremely powerful. Strange thing is, it wasn't coming from space but from Delpoi."

"Autobot?"

"I don't know, but it did come near the central area, ma'am."

Nightshade pressed a button on the console and opened a channel to another section of the ship. "Soundwave."

"Nightshade, you wish to speak to me about the unusual pulsewave?" The spymaster inquired.

"Yes, can you verify its origins?"

"I can identify its source. That specific frequency was used for escape pods loaded onto the Exodus."

Blackout gawked, optics wide. "It can't be."

"But it can…and most likely is." A smile on her face, the assassin turned to the comm-channel. "Soundwave, report this to Megatron." Cutting off the line, she turned to Blackout. "Blackout, you go get Barricade and Starscream."

"Ma'am are you sure we should tell Megatron so soon? I mean, it could just be a false alarm, and I really don't wanna piss of Megatron more than he already is."

"Blackout, if we detected that signal, then chances are that the Autobots have as well. That ship belonged to the Minicons, and if we can get to them first then it will grant us a massive advantage. We have been given a rare opportunity I do not intend to squander it."

XXXXXXXXXXX

As soon as he received the call, Ironhide nearly left skid marks on the floor in his haste by the time he reached the bridge. "You sure you've got the right signal Wheeljack?"

"Something this important and you're asking me that question?" Wheeljack, the team's mechanical engineer, said. He was frantically going over his keyboard, the screen giving him a positive match for the signal. "No way was that anything else-that was the Exodus!"

"You sure?" Ironhide asked, only to get a wrench tossed at his head. "Okay I'll stop asking!"

"Wait, hold up," Bulkhead said. "What's the Exodus?"

"It's a long story, way before your time. Remind me to tell you about it later." Keying his own communicator, the weapons specialist had hoped that this day would never come, but there's no point in breaking down over spilled energon. "Prime, we're just picked up a distress beacon. It matches what's in our records, and I hate to say this but…it's the Exodus."

Interrupted just as he and Prowl began to enter his office, the Autobot leader exchanged a brief glance with his second in command before answering his comm-link. "Have you verified it?"

 _"Checked and double-checked, boss. It's them."_

Prowl let out a curse. "To think that the Exodus would be found on this planet of all places. Think anyone else has picked up on it?"

As powerful as the transmitters were on that ship, I'm not taking any chances." Optimus then ordered, "Ironhide, have any Autobot within driving distance of the signal's origin go there on the double. Time is of the essence and we don't have a nano-klik to spare."

 _"Gotcha!"_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Annie peered out the room, the small drone just leaving her line of sight as it exited the cave. "What do you think that was all about?"

"Maybe it was some kind of UAV," Darren said. At the girl's surprised expressions, he shrugged. "You know, like the unmanned drones at military bases."

"Maybe," Gina began to pack her things, making sure to leave her crowbar out. "Whatever it is, I don't think we should be here when it comes back. Let's just take a quick look around, make sure there aren't any more surprises and leave.

"Okay, just whatever you do, don't-"

"Touch anything. Got it." Annie said.

The small drone soon returned, swooping past the kids and over to the console before hooking itself back into its slot. The trio looked from the small robot to the screen above it, fragments of unrecognizable alien text and wire frame scans.

"Guess I was right about it being a UAV." Darren's eyes blinked as he recognized some of the scans. "Look, it scanned our stuff and more!"

The wire frame scans quickly took the shapes of familiar objects, the kids recognized the designs similar to Darren's bike, Annie's skateboard, Gina's moped, as well as a sports car, helicopter and a fire truck.

Gina whistled in appreciation. "Tiny UAVs that could make the military jealous, but why scan all this stuff? Its old school."

Several chirps sounded behind them, prompting Darren to turn towards the center column. "Um, girls? One of the pods is doing something!"

He turned to the pods as one of the six began to come online. After a series of status displays flashing across the screen, the display became static and a hatch hissed open, the door flipping to the side. Within the pod lay a thin, deep blue robot slightly smaller than themselves, its limbs colored light silver blue and a white mouth-plate, with parts resembling a bicycle hanging from its form.

"What is it?" Darren questioned.

"It's an alien obviously." Gina said, stepping forward.

As if in response to her words, a pair of white optics flashed on and the robot glanced over at the trio and spoke in a clearly male voice. "It has a name, thank you."

The kids jumped in unison, clearly not expecting the robot to speak, let alone do so in their language. Giving the inwardly squealing Gina a wary glance, Darren stepped forward. "Yeah sorry, we didn't know, uh…"

"High Wire." The robot said, moving his limbs to regain their feeling. "Given the circumstances, I can understand your ignorance. And who are the three of you?"

"Well, I'm Darren. This is my sister Annie and my friend Gina." As the little robot continued to stare unflinchingly at them, he grew nervous. "Um, is something wrong?"

High wire shook his head to clear up the diagnostic banners flitting across his vision. "I'm sorry, I simply wasn't expecting to encounter organic life on this planet- a least, none as developed as you are. Clearly many things had changed since the last time I was online."

Turning back to the contraption, Gina poked it. "So, this pod…is it some kind of sleep chamber?"

"It's actually a stasis pod, but yes, Gina, that is an adequate analogy. We use them for long distance trips, emergency operations or in my case to protect us from harm." Then High Wire noticed the turned on console. His optics scanned over the readings on the screen and grew wide with worry. "No, who touched that console?"

Darren and Gina pointed to Annie, who had the decency to look shy at all the attention.

"Yeah, sorry about that." She said. Then she got scared. "Oh god, I didn't activate the self destruct sequence did I?"

"Nothing of the sort. What you did was activate a distress beacon that can only be detected on a cybertronian wavelength." High Wire explained.

"And why is that a bad thing?" Darren asked.

High wire studied Darren for a moment before nodding. "Well, since you've found me, I should probably give you all the details."

"Yes, that would be nice." Gina said, crossing her arms.

"To start things off, myself and my companions here, are Minicons, a subset of a race of mechanical beings native to the planet Cybertron orbiting the star my people call Hadeen. We had left our world to escape a civil war being fought between two factions, the Autobots and Decepticons.

"It was a unanimous decision among the neutrals to leave the planet when it became clear that resources were becoming scarce as a result of the war, and to avoid the constant threat of slavery. You see, we Minicons have the power to enhance the abilities of our larger counterparts and that has gained us unwanted attention from the Decepticons. Megatron, the Decpticon leader, sought to…enlist as many Minicons as he could." The kids winced at the tone High Wire used on the word enlist. "Some joined him willingly, eager for a taste of power, but the vast majority chose to remain neutral. With the war growing larger and more destructive, maintaining out neutrality became harder to do so. In order to escape enslavement or death, the Autobots helped us build a ship, the Exodus, to carry us away from Cybertron. With their help, we managed to escape the Decepticons and quantum jump away from Cybertron. But…things didn't go so well."

"What happened?" Gina said.

"I don't know. Something went wrong with the engines and the ship was forced out of transwarp space near your planet. My companions and I acted as a skeleton crew, while the rest of the minicons went into stasis panels and were ejected as we fell into orbit. We climbed into escape pods and ejected before the ship crashed. Presumably the ship is somewhere ono this planet, and the individual panels scattered across its surface as well as that of its moon."

"And I'm guessing that the signal I just activated will reactivate those panels?" Annie asked.

"Yes. That was a default frequency, any properly adjusted communications band would be able to pick up on it without much difficulty. Odds were that any cybertronian space craft or base near our position had already picked up on the frequency, even the Decepticons." High Wire turned to the console uneasily. "Which means that the war could spread to this world as well, and we're right back where we started.

It was a grim situation indeed. A whole ship of what are essentially refugees scattered and stranded on an alien planet with no way to contact each other or their homeworld. A worse case-scenario for any alien.

"Hold on!" Annie jumped to her feet. "You can't just give up! No matter how quick that transmission was, the Decepticons can't just zip themselves here in five seconds notice!"

"They can't but once they do, they'll detect our energy signatures immediately."

"Then leave," Gina said. "Get your friends out of those pods and make for the town. We can hide you."

"Annie," Darren said. "What makes you think that they'll have a better chance there? We can't just take them home and hide them in our garage hoping our parents don't find them."

"Well we can't just leave them here to roam the world all alone, advanced aliens or not." She retorted. "High Wire, will you let us help you adjust to our world?"

High Wire's eyes brightened. "Actually that idea may just work. There may be just enough electromagnetic interference to prevent Decepticon sensors from locking onto us fully. Sure there may be some advances in that area since out departure, but we don't have time for new ideas." He faced the kids." Now if you three wouldn't mind, could you lend me a hand? I must revive my friends as soon as possible."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

As his systems began to reboot, the yellow minicon's optics slowly came back online after who knows how long and a familiar form came into focus after the protective shutters opened.

"Sparkplug? How are you feeling?"

The Minicon flexed his fingers, trying to get the feeling back.

"A little stiff but I'll be fine. How long have we been out?"

If he had a mouth, High Wire would be smiling wryly.

"A very long time."

As Sparkplug shakily stepped from his pod with some help from High Wire, the three kids were busy speaking with the other Minicons.

"Okay, so how did you guys learn English?" Gina asked.

One of the Minicons, a blue and black mech with yellow wing-like protrusions on his shoulders, chuckled and pointed to the small avian drone.

"See that drone? We call them Skyspys, they help scan alt-modes for us when we're in stasis, as for how we can speak your language, we have internal translators that help us learn any spoken language. Pretty cool huh?" He laughed.

Another Minicon, an orange femme with a grey mouthless face with parts of a moped on her form, crossed her arms.

"I don't see what the temperature has to do with technology Grindor." She said.

"It's an expression, Sureshock." Grindor rolled his optics. "Lighten up girl, you could use a sense of humor."

"Now's not the time for jokes." Longarm, a brown Minicon with a crane on his back and a red visor covering his optics. "You kids mind leading us out? The faster we get going, the better, and you don't want to get left behind in the dust."

"We're coming Longarm." Darren said and looked over to a red bot with helicopter blades on his back. "You ready Jolt?"

"Yup. All set."

Seeing that his systems were running fine, Sparkplug offered a hand. "Annie, right? High Wire tells me that we have you to thank for giving us in being in such a hurry."

The girl giggled and accepted the offered hand. "Yeah, sorry about that."

"I'm glad that you found us and not someone else." Sparkplug smiled and beckoned to the hatch. "Now, it's your world, lead the way."

The kids retrieved their gear and with the Minicons in tow, led them back out of the cave. As they emerged from the cave, the minicons partially closed their optic shutters, unused to such bright light after a millennia of stasis. Finally adjusting to the light, they marveled over the terrain that might be their new home.

"Well I'll be damned." Jolt gave a jubilant laugh. "Look at all this vegetation! And the sun, Primus I never thought I would see it again!"

"Well you'll have plenty of time to get used to it." Sparkplug noted. As they made their way down the mountain, Sparkplug kept a close eye on his surroundings. "Everyone stick close and be on your guard. No telling what might-"

A loud crack went through the air, a rush of wind blowing them hard against the kids and the minicons that forced them into a crouching position to avoid being blown away. Annie frantically looked around, her arms covering her head.

"What the hell was that?!" She yelled.

"Not what," High Wire said, optics wide with terror as he pointed ahead. "Who!"

The others followed his gaze and looked up. The minicons immediately recognized the massive form before them, while the kids didn't have to recognize him to know they were in trouble. He towered above them, gunmetal grey, and black body supported by wide feet large enough to crush a car (and already crushing the trio's bikes), a grim and dour expression on his face, and a wicked looking black cannon on his right arm.

"Megatron." Sureshock whispered in horror. How was the Decepticon leader on this planet? He couldn't have gotten here so fast from Cybertron after detecting the signal.

"How nice of you to come here. I see the many vorns haven't clouded your memory." He said in a raspy voice. Megatron turned his optics on the humans. "Fleshlings, you have found something that belongs to me. You have my thanks- depart and you may live to see another day. Remain and- " His heel dug into the ground, further grinding the kids' rides underneath. "Well you get the idea."

The six minicons tensed up, ready to try and protect themselves and the kids among them. This prompted a laugh from the warlord.

"How touching, if futile." He smirked. "Very well, it seems we'll be doing this the hard way." He aimed his fusion cannon at the group. Gina huddled closer to Darren, who was trying not to shake in gear. Seconds before the cannon could fire, a new voice rang out.

"Stand down Megatron!"

Minicon, human and Decepticon alike were surprised as a laser blast hit Megatron in the chest, causing him to stumble back and fire his cannon into the air, the massive energy blast tearing through the tops of the trees and blowing hole into the mountain behind them. Megatron growled and leveled his sights upon the newcomer.

"Prime."

Standing nearby stood another mech, this was just as tall and bulky as Megatron, and visibly armed with a large black Ion cannon with steam rising from the barrel. "Run!"

Longarm and Jolt fled, speeding away from the battle as quickly as possible, soon disappearing into the forest in their alt-modes. Exchanging a quick comm-burst between themselves, the Street Action team also transformed but no into their alt-modes. Instead they combined into a single form- Sureshock forming the legs, Grindor forming the torso and arms, and High Wire forming the head and neck area. The newly formed gestalt-Centurion- quickly picked up the surprised children, carrying the twins under his arms and flipping Gina on to his back, speeding away, skating on his wheel-like feet.

As his comrades and new friends left for safety, Sparkplug raced towards Optimus, swerving around Megatron's feet. The warlord made for the minicon, prompting additional shots from Optimus.

"Shooting first Prime? How un-Autobot of you!" He retaliated with another shot from his fusion cannon, blasting the cannon out of Prime's hand. "And yet still ineffective."

Optimus rolled to the side to avoid another blast, and held out his hand to Sparkplug. "Sparkplug, do it now!"

Sparkplug flipped into the air, his car form plugging into a port on Optimus' right arm. Just as they connected, Optimus felt a jolt of energy run through his arm before a long, red hot orange blade slid out of his wrist emitting intense heat. Pulling a barrage cannon from the smokestack on his back, Optimus gave Megatron a challenging look.

"Now where were we?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Moving as fast as his rotors will allow at his height, Jolt kept his sensors fixed in all directions and thanked Primus that Megatron was the only Decepticon to appear so far. He was trained in recon and wouldn't last a nano-klik in combat. A fight was the last thing he needed.

"Well look at what crawled out of the service package!"

The tiny minicon was barely able to keep up his speed as an unfamiliar Decepticon charged in after him, trying to grab a hold of him with sharp looking hands.

"Come on you piece of scrap!" Barricade snarled as the little red chopper weaved just out of his reach and into the trees. It was hard to catch up with all the vegetation in his way and the tiny organic creatures darting around his feet. "Well if that's how you want it, then let's play!"

Suddenly a missile hit him in the side of his torso, knocking him into a tree.

"Back off Con!"

Blackout glared at the yellow Autobot who stepped out of the trees "Great, of all the Bots on this stupid rock, Barricade gets stuck fighting you. The Autobot mascot just fresh from the protoform stage."

"I'm still old enough to beat your aft!"

Bumblebee ran forward leaping on the trees to give him some height on his adversary. Barricade swiftly pulled out his gyro blades and swung them at the scout. Bumblebee dodged the strike, hissing as the blade cut into his chasis armor, and kneed Barricade in the face.

The blow dazed Barricade but he recovered and grabbed Bumblebee's arm, tossing him into a tree. The scout lost his grip on his blaster but had no time to retrieve it as he was forced to evade another strike from Barricade's blades, which easily cut through the trunk like paper.

"Damn!" He said. He could go in for another strike, but getting hit by those spinning blades was not an option. Those things could decapitate a lesser armored bot like him if he got a good hit in.

"Bee, heads up!"

Bumblebee looked up to see Jolt race through the air like a red bullet, jumping when he connected to his right arm. Bumblebee felt a huge surge of energy race through him as the powerlinking caused his arm to transform, his limb shifting inside itself to form a compact solar accelerator.

"Oh yes!" He grinned.

"A fancy new gun isn't going to help you against Barricade!"

Barricade charged at Bumblebee, but was stopped when his blade arm was suddenly shot clean off at the shoulder. The warrior stopped for a moment as he tried to process the loss of his limb.

"I think it's done a great job at helping me. Don't you?"

He didn't give Barricade time to answer as he fired another shot, this concussive blast hitting Barricade straight in his chest and blasting off some pieces of his armor. And one last shot blasted him a few feet away through a couple of trees.

"Wow, this thing packs a punch." Bumblebee said. Jolt disengaged himself from his arm and transformed. "Thanks Jolt."

"Anytime kid."

XXXXXXXX

Longarm tore through the bushes as he ran from his relentless pursuer, who was ripping up the forest floor trying to get to him. A missile hit the spot next to him, the explosion blasting him sideways into a tree. His vision swam for a bit before he quickly recovered and kept on running. But his path was cut off when a tall dark form stepped in his way.

"Don't try anything scraplet!" Lugnut growled, aiming his mortar guns at him. "Surrender and pledge your loyalty to the mighty lord Megatron."

"Oh shut up." Longarm tossed a sticky bomb on to Lugnut's foot and dived to the side as it exploded detonated. The brute howled in pain as the metal on his foot was blown off along with the internal circuitry.

"You little bastard!" Lugnut roared and was about to shoot Longarm down, when a wrecking ball him square in the face, making him spin around.

"Bulkhead!" Longarm smiled.

The big green Autobot ran gave Longarm a passing grin as he charged at Lugnut. Lugnut, still dazed from the punch, fired at him with his gun hands, the armor-piercing bullets ripping into the ground and the trees, but not hitting Bulkhead.

"Your aim sucks!"

Bulkhead shifted his arm into a wrecking ball and slammed it into Lugnut's eye at full force. The blow was like getting slugged by Ultra Magnus hopped up on red energon and was strong enough to damage the glass covering Lugnut's eye. The large Con toppled over and crashed to the ground, making the ground shake.

"Nice job," Longarm said. "Though you were cutting it a bit close."

"Hey, I like to make an entrance."

XXXXXXXXXXX

Twisting a bit to get more comfortable despite being held like a sack of potatoes, Darren struggled to get a better look at their new "friend". "Wait High Wire, Grindor, er…what do we call you?"

"Centurion." The Minicon gestalt answered, leaping over a large boulder with ease. The roar of engines caused Centurion to look skywards and notice a red and silver jet. "Damn it, it's Starscream!"

Before the kids could ask who Starscream was, they got their answer. A sleek fighter jet dived towards them and transformed in the blink of an eye, landing before the group with his trademark smirk on his face.

"Leave it to the mighty Megtraon to lose track of a couple of fleshlings and a Minicon. Pathetic." Starscream said and appointed his null ray at them. Centurion let the children down.

"Go, he's only here for me, not you. You three need to run." He said.

"What? No, we're not ditching you!" Gina said.

Then a pink and white convertible raced out of the trees and shifted form into a slender femme, who kneed a surprised Starscream in the face, sending him into a tree. Arcee ran at the seeker, who fired his arm cannons at her. She dodged them with the skill and agility of a highly trained warrior, and fired a blast from her pistol at his knee, forcing him to kneel.

Starscream growled and kicked the pistol out of her hand, attempting to shoot her face at point blank range only for her to grab his arm and twist it. It was clear she wasn't going to give him a chance to transform and attack her from the air, his natural element. Arcee broke his arm at an unnatural angle, making the kids cringe of the sickening 'crack' it gave before she stomped his head so hard he crashed through a tree trunk and crumpled to the ground.

"Holy shit, that was so one sided." Annie breathed. Her friends agreed. Arcee turned to them and knelt down to their level.

"Are you all okay?" She asked softly so as to not scare them.

"Yes we're fine." Centurion said and turned to the kids. "It's okay, she's an Autobot, one of the good guys."

"Finally," Darren sighed. "I was beginning to think the big guy was by himself."

"Optimus Prime." Arcee said, setting her sights back towards the mountain. "Don't thank me yet, this battle is far from over."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

The two leaders continued to brawl at the foot of the mountain, the Autobot leader having lost his blaster and the war monger's fusion cannon having been damaged. Even with the added power boost provided by Sparkplug, both combatants remained evenly matched, the two having gone into close quarters combat and deadlocked with their blades.

"It seems we are at a stalemate Prime!" Megatron smirked. "Even with your Minicon, you cannot defeat me!"

"Give it time Megatron! I'm just getting warmed up!" Optimus grunted.

He delivered an uppercut to Megatron's chin, just as a line came over his opponent's comm-unit, Soundwave's voice sounding through.

"Lord Megatron, the others have been rendered inoperable by the Autobots and have failed to retrieve the minicons. Enemy reinforcements imminent, suggest tactical retreat."

Megatron growled at the news, blocking a high kick. "Enjoy this victory Prime! But know this, the war is far from over! Soundwave!"

A ground bridge appeared behind him, Megatron shoved Optimus aside and jumped back into the portal.

Optimus looked at the spot where his enemy had vanished, Sparkplug disengaging from his arm and climbed onto his shoulder.

"Ratchet, can you detect any other Decepticon signals in the area?" He asked over the comm-channel.

": _No. All the other Decepticons are retreating. And before you ask, we can't track them back to their base. They must be cloaking their signals as well as the trail left by the ground bridge.:"_

"Of course." Prime sighed.

" Optimus, what was Megatron doing on this planet?" Sparkplug asked. "And you for that matter? Why aren't you on Cybertron?"

"That's a story I'll tell you back at the base, Sparkplug, but for now we must regroup with your new friends."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"YOU FOOLS!"

The Decpticons trembled at their leader's rage, with Lugnut on his knees begging for the forgiveness of his glorious master. Starscream didn't look as fearful but was smart enough not to interject with a witty comeback. Even he knew that Megatron was not in the mood.

They had all regrouped back at the Nemesis on their little island not-paradise, and the entire crew had gathered on the bridge to address their next course of action.

"B-but sir, the Auotobots…" Barricade said, but was cut off.

"Are nothing! They are but a handful of warriors that barely match up to a squad of those idiotic Wreckers! You are Decepticons, my fighting elite! They should have been no match for you!"

"They just caught us off-guard mighty Megatron." Lugnut said, head bowed. "Rest assured, we will be ready for them next time."

"If there is a next time." Starscream muttered, but shut up at Megatron's look. Nightshade walked forward.

"There's nothing to stress about, Megatron. Though the Autobot's got a head start on the minicons, keep in mind that there are hundreds more who are most likely all over the world in the most remote places. If we stay on our toes, we can get them before the Autobots do, and then we can take the fight to them." She said, calming him down. She always had that effect on him since before they had begun their revolution. Nightshade kept him from going off on murderous rages that would've ruined his image at a crucial point in their campaign.

"Is there any way for us to detect the Minicons ahead of time?" Megatron asked Knockout, who shrugged.

"From what I know about Minicon technology, no. Those little buggers will activate at random and one at a time. Until we the next one activates, then all we can do is wait."

Megatron grunted but accepted the answer and looked out the window and out into the desolate landscape. They had to take this slow, or everything will fall apart. But Megatron vowed upon his spark that Prime's team will fall and this world will follow.

XXXXXXXXXXX

The Autobots had regrouped back at the cave opening where the pod was discovered. Introductions were made around with names (which would have ended sooner had Gwen not been asking a thousand questions by the minute). Prowl, who had arrived via ground bridge, walked up to Optimus and voiced his concerns.

"Optimus, what do we do about the children?" He asked. "We can't just let them go."

"We can only do one thing Prowl." Optimus knelt down to the kids' level to better speak to them without seeming too intimidating. Thankfully they had already calmed down from the chaos of earlier. "Children, on behalf of my people and my comrades, I thank you for finding these Minicons and bringing them back online. The rest of my team resides back at our ship, which is also in the general area."

"Um, Optimus…what happens now? Will you take the minicons and leave?" Darren hesitantly asked, not wanting to leave High Wire alone despite not having known him for very long.

The Autobot leader shook his head. "Three are any more Minicons in the world and Megarton will not stop once he's enslaved all of them. And even if we wanted to leave, we are currently unable to, as our ship is damaged beyond repair." He answered. "Until he and his forces are defeated, you world remains in danger."

"Which means we're staying put," Bulkhead said. "So what do we do about them? Megs saw them with minicons. And that isn't a good thing."

"What do you mean?" Annie asked.

"Megatron will target you because you found the minicons, and might think you know how to find more, if not use you all as hostages." Arcee explained.

"As such, it is within your best interests to be watched over to ensure that the Decepticons do not attempt anything." Optimus said. High Wire walked forward.

"Optimus, is it alright if my team watch over the children ourselves?" He requested. "In a way, it was our fault that they're being targeted by the Cons. We are suited for combat like Sparkplug."

Optimus turned to the children. "Are you okay with this arrangement?"

They looked at each other before Gina stepped forward and gave the Street Action team a wide smile. "They're more than welcome into our home!"

If he could, High Wire would have shed a tear. "That is more than enough. Thank you."

Little did the Autobots know, this would begin a new conflict that would change the face of the Great War forever. A conflict that would change the hearts and minds of all those present, good and evil. The War for Terra.


	3. Earthfall part 3

Chapter 3-Battle Lines

"This is AMAZING!" Gina yelled out.

Darren and Annie agreed with her as they looked around at the outstanding interior of the ship that the Autobots called the Ark. The walls were made of gold alloy that was thoroughly cleaned and polished...or as clean as it could be when half the ship is buried in the side of a dormant volcano. Everything was larger than life, built on a sale that the Autobots could use and all so overwhelming.

"I'm glad you like it Gina." Optimus chuckled.

"To think that a ship this large was in a volcano for 4 million years. Its like a sci-fi cartoon!" Gina gushed. Sureshock giggled.

"Careful Gina, you're starting to drool." She said. Darren looked up at Prowl, who didn't look very happy.

"Hey Prowl, what was that portal thing that you guys brought us through?" He asked. The Autobots had taken the kids through their ground bridge to take them back to base.

"Don't address me as if we're friends, human. We will not reveal our technology to you so don't bother asking, nor will we reveal the true location of the Ark." Prowl said firmly, making Darren back away.

"What crawled up your ass and died?" Annie snorted as she glared up at Prowl, who bristled a bit at the insult. Grindor laughed but a look from Sureshock made him cover it up with a cough.

"Its a ground bridge." Jazz said walking up to them. "We use it to get around the world without having to pay for airplane tickets. All we have to do it type in a location, and drive right in to our destination."

"So I could easily use this to visit the pyramids of Amara and be back in time for dinner?" Gina asked, her mouth dropping to the floor. Jazz nodded and leaned down.

"Yup, though I wouldn't advise any joy riding with sergeant sourpuss over there." He quipped, making the blonde giggle uncontrollably.

"How about Bulk and I give you a tour of the base? would you three like that?" Arcee asked kindly. The kids nodded excitedly at the suggestion.

"Ooh! I want to ride on the big guy's shoulder!" Annie said.

Bulkhead looked unsure but looking down at Annie's lit up face crumbled his reservations. He leaned down and held out a large hand. She jumped into his palm and whooped as she was lifted onto his shoulder, looking like a kid on Christmas morning. As they exited the docking bay, Prowl walked over to Optimus.

"Optimus, you know its against protocol to be showing the natives the ship." He whispered firmly. "We shouldn't even be talking to them."

"The children are at risk due to their involvement in the Minicons' awakening. If they are going to be under our protection, then we must earn their trust and acceptance." Optimus said.

"The children are in as much danger here as they are out here. They don't have armor like us. One wrong move and they'll go squish!" He emphasized the thought by stamping his foot.

"Then we must simply watch our step." Optimus replied.

The kids were having the time of their lives. They and the Minicons were still amazed at how vast the Ark was from the inside. Arcee had shown them the munitions plant, the cargo hold near the rear of the ship, and the computer hub where Teletran-1 was located. Right now they were in the rec room, which was a large room with seven tables and an energon bar that honestly looks like its seen better days.

"You have an amazing ship Arcee." Darren said.

"Thank you. But its all thanks to our engineers and scientists back on Cybertron who sacrificed a lot to build this ship." She said.

She remembered the uproar that Optimus had caused after announcing the construction of the Ark. It took nearly all of their resources to complete the ship, and a lot of firepower to keep the Decepticons from torching it before it was ready to launch. After all the hard work and energon spilt to get it done, it was a little sad to have it buried in a mountain beyond repair.

"Why is it so big? Your team isn't even that large." Grindor asked.

"The main reason the Ark was built was so it could transport massive amounts of energon." Bulkhead explained. "The whole reason we left Cybertron was to look for new energy sources to help us win the war. But one thins led to another and here we are."

"Well I think it still looks magnificent, damaged or not." Gina said. "Was the Exodus this outstanding Sparkplug?" When he didn't answer, she looked over at him to see him deep in thought. "Sparkplug, you alright?"

"Hmm? Oh sorry Gina, my processor was just someplace else for a nano-klik." Sparkplug sighed, setting his weary optics on the children. "No offense, I'm glad I met you guys, but I wish it was under better circumstances and that we weren't making you three potential targets."

"Don't be like that Sparkplug, it's not like you can change what happened." Thinking back on that incident, Darren sighed. "Besides, it was our fault that the Cons were on us like that."

"Still I don't like the idea of you three being targets because of us." He said. He didn't want to think of what could've happened to the children if things had gone wrong. "All I wanted was for us Minicons to be away from that damn war, but now all I've done is drag everyone smack dab into the thick of it. If anything happens to the other Minicon I'll never forgive myself."

"Its not your fault that we crashed here either, Sparkplug." Sureshock said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Whatever the circumstances, we are here now. For the time being we simply have to make due."

"Indeed." Optimus stepped into the room and looked down at his friend. "We will do our very best to find your missing crew members and get them home Sparkplug, I swear this."

"Thank you Optimus."

Darren checked his phone and grimaced. "Uh, Optimus, I don't have a reception."

"Its a precautionary measure. The Ark blocks out all radio waves."

"Well, I need to call my sister before she has the national guard out looking for me and Annie." He said.

" Same here," Gina said disappointed. "Its getting late, and my mom's not exactly someone you want to get mad, so...yeah."

"Very well. Bulkhead you take the twins home with Grindor and High Wire. Arcee, you do the same with Gina and Sureshock." Optimus ordered.

"Got it."

"Will we get to come back tomorrow?" Annie asked. She was not going to let this be a one time thing.

"Of course. You may come to the Ark so we may better watch over you."

"YES! Score!" Annie cheered and high fived Gina. Darren shook his head.

"Good grief."

XXXXXXX

Starscream strutted into Knockout's lab with a swagger only he could perform so casually. The dark crimson Decepticon was busy studying some brightly colored crystals he had on his table. Aside from some energon scouting missions, things had slowed to a crawl on the Nemesis, and Starscream needed someone to talk to.

"The mighty Starscream has actually bothered to visit a lowly mortal like me with his presence? My hell must really have frozen over." Knockout quipped, not looking back at the seeker. Starscream sniffed at the jab.

"I'd watch my tone. Knockout. I am your superior officer."

"And I'm the mech who holds your life in his hands after Megatron uses you for target practice. Pull rank again and I may accidentally confuse my scalpel for a hammer while beating out those dents of yours." The medic replied. He stepped away from his microscope and turned to Starscream. "What do you want?"

"Just wanted an update on your search for the Minicon stasis panels." Starscream answered mildly, trying not to seem like he was prying for too much information.

"What do you think? No progress at all. Not even Soundwave has made any progress in that regard." Knockout said shrugging. "Minicon technology was always a fickle subject considering that they always were hush hush about what they were making. Little bastards."

"Hmm."

Starscream didn't like the sound of that. He wanted to ease the possible location of the panel from Knockout so he could snatch it before Megatron got wind of it, but if even Soundwave had no idea how to find them, he couldn't do much. Then he took notice of the multicolored crystals on the table.

"What are you doing?" He asked. Knockout grinned.

"Studying what these humans call hephaestium. Magnificent things they are, they conduct energy almost as well as energon. Observe." Knockout picked up a blaster and fired a shot from it.

Starscream yelped as he ducked under the prismatic bolt of energy and glared at Knockout, who was grinning cattily at him. "Have you blown a fuzor! What possessed you to fire at your superior officer? I should have you-"

"Relax Starscream, just demonstrating the applications of our mystery mineral."

Knockout ejected the clip from the blaster and tossed it to Starscream. He gave Knockout a look and glanced at the clip. To his surprise, instead of energon, it was that same clear crystal that filled the ammo cartridges, hephaestium in liquid form.

"How...?" He began.

"That's the beauty of it. We could weaponize it more efficiently than the humans. Use it to its fullest potential."

"And this could be a viable substitute for energon?" The gears were already turning in Starscream's head.

"Possibly. I still need to run more tests but it has the potenetial." Knockout answered with a shrug.

Starscream walked up to Knockout and threw an arm around his shoulder. "Knockout, it would be in bests interests that neither Megatron nor Soundwave learn of this element."

"I'm sorry? Are you asking me to lie to our commander?"

"He won't be our commander for long. It's only a matter of time until he makes a mistake, and that is when I will strike." A snake-like smile spread across the seeker's face. "And a commander will need a second in command. Say a certain medic who likes to tinker."

"A promotion?" Knockout also gained a similar smile.

"You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours."

XXXXXXX

It was almost five when Arcee pulled up to Gina's house. The blonde got out, pulling the disguised Sureshock along with her.

"Thanks for the ride Arcee." Gina said.

"No problem. You take good care of each other, okay?" Arcee said.

"We will." Sureshock said.

Gina took Sureshock right up to her house and opened the door, sighing in relief as she entered her home. It felt nice to be home, especially after such a tiring day.

"Gina is that you?" Someone called from the kitchen.

"Yeah, its me mom!"

Gina's mother Julia exited the kitchen. Sureshock took a moment to study her charge's mother. Julia looked nothing like Gina, sporting long red hair and green eyes as well as a strong build, with faint scars running along her exposed arms. She had the look and physique of a seasoned fighter and was not someone that Sureshock wanted to piss off. So this was her parental unit. Scary.

"Gina, what are you doing with that moped? And why is it orange?" Julia asked. Gina stammered for a second but thought of an excuse.

"Um, I just had it upgraded with some parts from the junkyard. Darren helped me remodel it. That's why we're so late." She said.

Fortunately her excuse worked as her mother nodded and smiled. "Okay then, just be sure to put it in the garage when you're finished."

"Okay." Gina made her way towards the stairs but stopped for a moment. "Um, did dad call yet?"

"No, I'm sorry sweetie. He's still very busy with his work in Amara." Julia said, smiling sadly. Seeing her daughter's disappointed expression, she added, "I'll give him an email later on. Maybe he'll call before you go to bed."

"Sure, I guess." Gina smiled, though on the inside she was thinking 'I wouldn't hold my breath on it.'

She went up the stairs and to her room. Kicking the door closed, Gina let out a breath and looked at Sureshock.

"Okay, you can transform now."

Sureshock transformed, feeling a bit out of place in such a homely environment. Gina cleared her throat and waved her arms at what would be Sureshock's knew home for the time being.

"So, this is my room. I live here." Gina said lamely. "What do you think?"

Sureshock looked around at her surroundings. Gina's room was rather average, with lavender walls and a large bed with a work table next to it by the window. She noticed that there were some machine parts lying on the table and what looked like an egg shaped robot with a glass front lying on its side. That must be where Gwen did her magic. Looking back at the girl, Sureshock had to laugh at her nervous expression.

"Your home is amazing Gina, but you don't have to worry. I'm not judgmental about where I live." She told Gina. Venting some air from her filters, she sat on the bed, noting how soft it was. "This is just so weird for me. Waking up on a planet far from home, most of my friends scattered to the four corners of the world. It's a bit lonely."

Gina sat next to the Minicon and gave her a kind smile, placing an arm around her shoulders.

"But you're not alone. You've got High Wire and Grindor, Darren, Annie, and me. Not to mention the Autobots. We'll be right beside you, oaky?"

"Okay. Thank you Gina."

"No problem, Sureshock."

Meanwhile, Darren and Annie were taking their partners to their house, completely exhausted from the day's events. Darren was holding onto High Wire, while Annie carried Grindor under her arm.

"Man, I cant wait to do some cool stuff with Bulkhead tomorrow. A giant bot with a wrecking ball for a hand. How freaking cool is that?!" Annie gushed. Darren rolled his eyes.

"Yes, Annie, its very cool. Like the last five times you've mentioned it." He droned.

"Wow bro, don't sound too excited." She said.

"That's because I'm not excited. I'm tired and hungry. Almost getting blown to kingdom come can do that to a person." He replied.

"Right, because its not like you have powers that can totally help you in situations like that." Annie snorted.

"Powers?" High Wire asked. Darren told him that he'd explain later.

"Wow you two argue a lot. If all twins act like this, I'm glad that I don't have one." Grindor said.

"Shut up Grindor." Darren said with no malice in his voice.

They made it to their house at the middle of the street, and was also the largest one on the block and made their way to the front door. But before they even reached the doorstep, the door swung open and the twins found themselves face to face with their sister.

"Hey Melody." Darren and Annie said in perfect unison. Their postures were stiff as a board as they were scrutinized by their mother.

"You two are late. What took you so long?"

High Wire took a moment to study the woman. Melody Radcliffe was a rather pretty young woman who looked to be in her twenties. She shared the twins' emerald green eyes, and had long, wavy auburn red hair that freely fell down her back in luscious waves. Judging from the smaller age gap between them, High Wire deduced that Melody was their older sister. If that was true, then where were their parental units?

"Hey sis." Annie said nervously. "Sorry we're late. You know how those pesky buses are like. You miss one, you might as well walk, and stuff."

"We were at the junkyard and lost track of time." Darren cut in. He wasn't going to get in trouble by Annie's falty lie. "We tried to catch a bus but we missed one and decided to walk."

Hmm." Melody hummed and nodded. Then she looked at High Wire and Grindor. "What happened to your bike and skateboard? They look different."

"Annie trashed them trying to do some fancy tricks and I spent the rest of the day upgrading so old stuff we found in the junkyard." He replied easily. He was not usually this good at lying to his mom, but the extra ribbing he at Annie he snuck in gave him some confidence. He could already feel her glare on the side of his head.

"Fine. Put those in the garage and come inside. I have dinner ready." Melody said and went back into the house. "We're making your favorite Annie. Pork Chops."

"Yay. More meat for the carnivore." Darren droned. Melody laughed as she entered the house.

The twins went to the garage, where they placed High Wire and Grindor up against the wall by the work table.

"We're going to leave you here until after dinner." Annie told them. "Will you guys be alright here?"

"We'll be fine, Annie thank you." High Wire said. "You two run along before your mother starts shouting."

"Yeah, that's the last thing we need." Darren said as he and Annie made their way to the door. "You guys will see just where Annie gets her temper from."

"Shut up!" Annie growled, punching him in the shoulder.

"Ow! See what I mean?"

They left the garage, shutting the door behind them. This left High Wire and Grindor alone, where they sat in silence for a few minutes. Then Grindor spoke up.

"Hey High Wire?"

"Yes?"

"I think I'm going to like it here."

"Me to, Grindor. Me to."

XXXXXXX

The next day after school, the Autobots picked up the kids and their Minicon guardians and took them to the Ark via the ground bridge. Once they got to their destination, the kids went their separate ways, integrating themselves with the Autobots they felt more connected with. Gina spent her time with Sureshock and Longarm in the rec room, where the Autobots kept their supplies of processed energon in multicolored tanks behind a bar. The tiny trio sat on one of the large tables as Gina explained the ins and outs about her world to the Minicons.

"So Hephaestium is your people's main source of power?" Longarm asked.

"Yeah, we sure alternate sources, but it is the most used." Gina answered. "Hephaestium is used to power machines like airships and Talos, act as ammunition, even provide power to whole cities, though that's a work in progress. We mine it from natural deposits located all over the world, with some places having larger amounts than others."

"Sound a lot like energon." Sureshock noted.

"Yeah, it does." Longarm said.

"But can energon allow you to shoot fire from your hands or create ice out of nothing?" She grinned. "Trust me, Hephaestium is strange when you get to use it, and that's not taking into account the effects it has no nature. You should see the Hallelujah Mountains over in Dalmasca."

"What are those?" Sureshock asked. Gina took out her laptop and turned it on.

"One of the most amazing sights that I hope to see one day. A region where there is so much Hephaestium that there are mountains floating the in the air."

Sureshock and Longarm both looked at the photo of a mountain range on a sunny day. To their amazement, they saw what looked like large mountain tops floating unobstructed in mid-air. Even back on Cybertron they had never seen floating mountains that were natural.

"Cool isn't it?" The blonde asked slyly. "I wish that I could go visit those mountains one day, even if its just once. That would certainly be an experience. Well, aside from meeting you guys."

"I would like to join you as well, Gina. This seems like quite the site to see." Sureshock said.

"You're welcome to come along." Gina replied happily.

Meanwhile, in the Coronado desert, Bulkhead sat at the top of a steep, rocky slope with Annie and Grindor sitting in his front seats. He was supposed to be scouting the area for energon, but somehow he let Annie convince him to bring them along to do some off-roading. Obviously this was a bad idea, but when she gave him those baby eyes...he couldn't help it!

"This is crazy, Annie. I'm supposed to be protecting you, and this hardly seems safe." He said.

"Bulk, relax. Grindor and I are sitting in 10 tons of alien muscled steel. We're protected." She replied cheekily. "Now punch it!"

Bulkhead sighed but revved up his engine anyway and drove down the uneven slope. He raced over the rocky slide with the grace of a half asleep rhino, his large form bumping and rocking violently from the large rocks under his wheels. Annie was whooping and hollering like she was at a rock concert, while Grindor had his optics shut and was praying to whatever god he could think of.

Soon they made it down the slope and back onto flat land. Grindor pushed himself out and fell to the ground, happy that it was over. Annie was just laughing happily, not once regretting hitching a ride with the large Autobot.

"That was amazing! Let's go again!" She cheered. Grindor groaned out a scared "nooo!" from beside them.

"Sorry Annie, but that's it for today. We've got to get you both back to the Ark." Bulkhead told her.

"Aww." Annie frowned.

"But...if I'm free tomorrow, then we can do this again if you want."

Really? Oh Bulk, you're the absolute best!"

Bulkhead chuckled. Seeing this girl smile made it worth getting chewed out by Prowl. She reminded him a lot of his old Wrecker buddies back on Cybertron. Small in size but strong at heart.

"I hate you both." Grindor whimpered.

Wheeljack and Arcee were watching Darren demonstrate his powers by levitating a crate with High Wire sitting on it. They had never seen an esper up close before, and thus seeing him use his powers was quite the sight to see. Though Arcee noticed the effort it took him to lift both the crate and the Minicon.

"This is intriguing," Wheeljack muttered as he watched the boy. "I have never seen an organic species capable of such powers."

"Well, glad you like the show." Darren said. He struggled to place the crate down gently, nearly dropping it as he had a lapse in concentration. "Just don't expect any second showings."

"And you said that there are others like you with these powers?" High Wire asked. Darren nodded.

"Yes. Thousands of people, some have powers like me that they can easily hide, but others aren't so lucky." He explained. "Some espers have physical mutations instead of powers, stuff like wings, tails, weird skin colors, and so on."

"Oh yeah, I heard of an esper who looked like a bipedal wolf who lived up in Maine. I doubt he's had am easy life." Arcee said.

"You could say that. Espers aren't exactly liked here in Delpoi, with most naturals seeing us as either freaks or uncontrollable monsters." Darren said.

High Wire watched perplexed as Darren waved his hand and strips of metal were torn from the crate, bending like they were made of plastic and not steel and floating around the boy. He flexed his hand again and the strips were shot away from him quicker than he could follow, stabbing themselves into the wall.

"Does anyone besides Annie and Gina know about your powers?" High Wire asked.

"Only my mom. I make it a golden rule to never use my powers in public or I risk either getting made an outcast by the other children, or get hunted down by some Friends of Humanity jackholes." He replied.

It wasn't a hard thing to do, hiding his powers. But they've been active since before he was born. According to Julia, every time he kicked in her womb, he would send something flying off the table or shelf. Esper powers manifest around puberty, but he's been using them since he was a baby, a rarity among his kind. Annie may not like him trying to act normal, but he wasn't going to risk her and their mother's safety just to play hero. It was a hard life to be ousted as an esper, and its even harder to be a parent with an esper child. And heaven help them if they have mutations or noticeable powers like fire or ice manipulation.

"That's terrible," Wheeljack said. He was taking notes during his explanation and had only now just finished. "To think that humans are so quick to hurt you people because you can do things they can't."

"They do it out of fear. No matter what planet you come from, if you give people power, too much power, it drives them crazy. And fear makes people stupid things. Terrible things." Arcee said.

She flashed back to the outliers, Cybertronians who were treated in relatively the same way as espers before the war broke out. Discrimination on that level is exactly why the Uprising came to be.

"If its any consolation, Darren," High Wire began. "I think your powers are something amazing that shouldn't be hidden away. They are apart of you, and you should honor that. Not many people are as lucky as you."

Darren hummed and looked at his hands. Hands that had the power to kill people if he wanted. Or save lives. Indeed he was lucky, for there are plenty of other espers who had powers that were as much a danger to them as they were to other people.

But even still. It would be nice to not have to watch your back everyday or worry for your life. It would be nice to be normal for a change.

XXXXXXX

The Rec room was a place where an Autobot could go unwind from the arduous lives they lead in defense of their temporary home. Here they could relax and recuperate after a long day of getting shot at by Decepticons or avoiding getting blown sky high because of a misused bomb (Arcee still hasn't forgiven Wheeljack for that particular mishap). The room was full of large white metal tables, too many for a small team of nine, and it even had an energon bar that served different kinds of energon (because the members of Team Prime had very peculiar tastes), though that may change as their supply of natural energon was starting to run low.

Optimus stood in the doorway watching the members of his team joke and laugh with their new human friends. On his shoulder sat Sparkplug, who also looked at the scene with a small smile on his face.

"They all look so happy." Sparkplug noted. Optimus nodded.

"They do. The children's presence is a new but welcome development for them. It breaks the monotony of the daily routine of fighting our enemies and hunting for energon." He said. "And for some, it provides a distraction from the reality of our situation. The thought that we may not be able to return to Cybertron."

Sparkplug hummed thoughtfully. "I hope the kids aren't dragged too deep into this war. It would be a shame to see such innocent organics tainted by this god forsaken war."

"Isn't that why you left on the Exodus?" Optimus asked. Sparkplug gave him a look, but he didn't pay him any mind. "To preserve what was left of Minicon culture by leaving the war behind."

"Hey, I left because-"

"Optimus," They both looked down to see Longarm tapping his large metal foot. "Ratchet wants to see you. He says that its important. Sparkplug to."

They didn't bother to ask for the specifics, knowing that the medic will explain once they got there. Optimus headed to the computer hub, a large chamber that was full of large monitors and computers, the largest of which housed Teletran-1. Ratchet was at the main terminal, typing in commands while looking up at he atlas displayed on the monitor when Optimus entered the room.

"What seems to be the problem Ratchet?" He asked.

"Teletran just detected another distress signal. One tat is nearly identical to the beacon that originated from the escape pod the kids found." Ratchet reported. Sparkplug's optics widened.

"What? Impossible, I had High Wire's team launch in the only pod we could find after we kept the Exodus from crashing into the moon. There's no way any other Minicons could be active right now." He said.

"Take a look for yourself." Ratchet motioned to the computer.

Optimus held Sparkplug closer so he could read the data Teletran was showing. To his disbelief, Ratchet was totally right. The signal was almost identical to the one that his escape pod used. But there was a minute difference that he spotted.

"Sparkplug," Optimus said. "Do you recognize this signal?"

"I have an idea who sent it, but I need to make sure. But you're right, its another escape pod." Sparkplug said.

"Then we better mobilize before the Decepticons get wind of this as well." Optimus made his way towards the door. "Ratchet, call Ironhide, Prowl and Bumblebee. We're rolling out."

XXXXXXX

Liftor was a nervous wreck. The orange and blue Minicon was hiding inside the tiny cave that held his escape pod, from which he and his companion had just awakened from not minutes ago. He barely had time to gather his surroundings when the pod's sensors had detected multiple Decepticon signals near their position. And that was when the trouble started.

'I went on the Exodus to get away from Decepticons, so how did I get in this situation!' Liftor thought wearily.

He was hiding behind a giant (to him) energon crystal, one of many in this extremely large energon mine that was filled wall to wall with raw energon. He could see three, maybe four Decepticons roaming around the cave, with some smaller ones, presumably Minicons, transporting crates of energon into a ground bridge. He only recognized the Cons as the top Cons listed on his 'run the hell away at first glance' list that he compiled just for this purpose, and the last people he wanted to run into: Soundwave, Starscream, Barricade and the terrible narcissistic doctor Knockout.

Starscream is this going to take, Knockout?" Starscream growled. He glared at the medic as he paced angrily around the cave. "I thought you said that the damn panel was in this cave!"

"It should be, this is the place where the signal originated from." Knockout frowned. "Strange. By all rights we shouldn't be able to get anything from down here with all this energon."

"I don't care, just find the panel already!" Starscream shouted. He wanted to get the Minicon before Megatron had a chance to snatch it away from him like the uncouth savage he was.

"Starscream, may I remind you that you are not in command here. I am." Soundwave said calmly. Starscream glared at the spymaster.

"Yes, because taking orders from an emotionless tool like you is going to get us what we want." He drawled sarcastically.

"Regardless of your personal preference, Megatron has made his orders clear. Perhaps you will be more productive if you actually aided in the search."

"Why you little-"

"Hey! Don't be dissin' Soundwave like he's one of your peeps!" Rumble, a blue Minicon with large pile driver arms, ran up to Starscream. His twin brother Frenzy, who was red and black, joined him.

"Yeah, unlike you, he ain't gonna take no beating from you!" Frenzy said.

Rollbar watched as the Decepticons quarreled amongst themselves and quietly snuck back into the pod. He crawled back into the tunnel he dug and entered the pod, where a predominantly silver Minicon with a red face plate was sitting at one of the small consoles looking at the data on the screen.

"We're in trouble." Liftor said.

"I can see that." Rollbar replied. Liftor took his shoulders and spun him around to face him.

"No, I mean we're in TROUBLE. I just saw Soundwave and Starscream searching the place with Barricade and Knockout. And its only a matter of time before we get found out and beaten within an inch of our lives by Rumble and Frenzy, and then-"

"Liftor!" Rollbar shouted. "Relax. The Cons haven't found us yet and I intend to keep it that way."

"How?"

"By staying here." Liftor looked at him like he had just turned into a swarm of scraplets.

"What? But-"

"We don't have a choice," Rollbar cut his friend off. "If we leave now, we'll be discovered immediately. I heard that Soundwave has better hearing than a Pneuma-lion."

"Then what do we do?" Liftor asked, not feeling a bit frustrated.

Rollbar could only lean back in his seat and vent some air from his exhaust ports. "We wait and hope that there are either Autobots in the area, or the Cons get bored and leave us alone."

Sadly neither seemed very likely a the moment.

XXXXXXX

"Wow," Bumblebee gasped as he and the other Autobots entered the cave. "I've never seen so much energon in one place before."

"Take it all in kid, cause you ain't gonna be seeing a sight like this any time soon." Ironhide quipped.

"Now's not the time to be sight-seeing. Focus on the mission." Prowl said curtly as he ran forward and took cover behind a boulder. The others followed his example.

"Focus on the task at hand Autobots." Optimus said. His optics narrowed when he saw Soundwave and Starscream. Knockout and Barricade were using a large drilling machine that dug into the earth, presumably to find the escape pod they detected earlier. He also saw Rumble and Frenzy pushing carts of energon through the ground bridge back to their base.

"Think we can take 'em?" Ironhide asked.

"We came here for the Minicons. An all out battle with this much energon around is dangerous." Optimus answered and looked down at Sparkplug. "Sparkplug, do you have a fix on their location?"

"Yes, but the scanner is acting a bit wonky. Too much interference, but I think I can reach them." Sparkplug said.

"Then in that case. let's make some noise." Bumblebee said. He took out his blaster and pointed it at Soundwave.

"Bee, wait!" Prowl tried to stop him but he was too late as Bumblebee had already pulled the trigger and let the blast fly. Everyone watched as the blast flew towards Soundwave's unprotected head, and for a moment it appeared that it would hit the Con dead on. But at the last second, Soundwave side-stepped and let the blast sail over his shoulder before hitting an energon crystal and exploding. The explosion took the Decepticons by surprise, but they quickly gathered themselves as Soundwave faced the Autobots.

"Alert, Autobots sighted. Initiate counterattack." Soundwave said before he fired four missiles from his shoulder cannon.

"Autobots, scatter!" Optimus exclaimed. The team split up to avoid the missiles that destroyed their cover and opened fire on the Cons, who returned fire. Soon the entire cave erupted into a fire fight, set alight by blaster fire from both sides.

Back in the pod, Rollbar and Liftor heard the commotion and cautiously went to investigate. They were surprised and elated to see that the Cons were fighting the Autobots.

"We're saved! Haha, we can finally leave!" Liftor said happily, but then deflated. "But how are we going to get to them? We cant just run our into a fire fight without getting blown to pieces."

Rollbar hummed as he thought of a plan. Then his salvation came in the form of a certain yellow Minicon that was hanging out behind Prime's foot. "That's it! Liftor, remember that private that Minicons use?"

"Yeah, but what-oh." Liftor already knew what Rollbar was planning. "I get it. But will it work? We've been in stasis for so long. And our tech barely works."

"It's worth a try."

Sparkplug was taking cover behind a large rock, trying not to get caught up in the fierce fighting, when his began beeping on a private channel that he forgot he had. It was a channel that he developed with some tech heads that was used by Minicons, for Minicons for a sense of maintaining their privacy. He quickly switched it on and was surprised by who answered.

" _Hello? Sparkplug is that you?"_ The voice on the other end was none other than his friend Liftor. " _Please tell me that this thing is working."_

"Liftor?" Sparkplug said in disbelief.

" _Thank Primus, I thought we didn't get any reception down here."_

"Well I can barely hear you. You're getting too much interference." Sparkplug replied.

" _Never mind that, we're near by your postion but we cant get out without drawing attention from the Cons. Is it possible for you to come get us or have one of the Autobots do it?"_ Rollbar asked.

"I'll see what I can do. Just hang on." Sparkplug turned to Optimus. "Optimus, I've found them, but they need help."

"I understand. Bumblebee, take Sparkplug and rescue those Minicons!" Optimus ordered.

The scout nodded and picked up Sparkplug, ducking in between crystals and rocks while taking any shots he could. Within seconds he was already standing over the whole that lead to the pod and Sparkplug jumped out of Bumblebee's hand onto the ground. He ran over to the tunnel where Liftor and Rollbar where waiting and smiled upon seeing them.

"It's good to see you guys again!" Sparkplug said.

"Same here. We were worried that this was it for us." Rollbar replied. Liftor looked up at Bumblebee, then at Optimus Prime.

"What the hell are you doing with Optimus Prime? Why are they here? Where is here exactly?" Liftor supplied a whole slew of questions, too many to answer all at once in the middle of a battlefield.

"How about we save the questions for when we get out of here, huh?" Bumblebee said and peeked over a boulder, firing a shot from his blaster that caught Starscream in the shoulder. The seeker spun on his feet, arm cannons firing wildly as he tried to regain his balance.

A few of those rounds hit a cluster of crystals next to Barricade and exploded, almost knocking the Con to the ground. "Watch where you're shooting Starscream! Do you want to blow us all to hell?"

Bumblebee helped the three Minicons return to the cave entrance, an was about to run over to his teammates when he saw something glowing in the ground not too far from him. It was green and very small, hexagonal in shape and had the symbol of the Minicon faction on the front. Sparkplug recognized it as a Minicon stasis panel.

"Bee, get that panel now!" He yelled, but the scout was already on his way.

"On it!" He shouted back, rushing towards the panel that was embedded in the wall. He shot back at the Cons as he tore a path towards the panel.

He reached out with his hand to grab it, but he had to cut off his pursuit to avoid getting his head caved in by Soundwave. The spymaster stood in front of the scout, staring him down with his stone cold featureless face. But Bumblebee wasn't perturbed by him, in his mind he knew Soundwave was no fighter, having spent most of his time off the field and providing support.

He had no idea how wrong he was.

Bumblebee lashed out at Soundwave with a series of fast punches and kicks, and all of them were either dodged or blocked by him. Soundwave didn't expend too much energy in fighting the scout, retaliating only in small but strong blows to his legs face and chest. The spymaster wasn't worried at all about fighting an Autobot, he had fought worse opponents in Cybertron's gladiator arenas. However time was of the essence and he had a mission to complete.

Bumblebee was caught off guard when Soundwave suddenly started wailing on him, knocking aside his fists and punching back with quick strikes that felt like getting smacked by Bulkhead's index finger. Each time he tried to fight back, he would be blocked and then punished with a counterattack. Soundwave finished his assault with a kick to the chest that sent Bumblebee flying back into some crystals.

"Ow, for a guy who never speaks, he certainly knows how to fight." He groaned. Bumblebee sat up and saw that Soundwave was already picking up the panel and had summoned a ground bridge. "No you don't!"

He shot up and made a run for Soundwave, who calmly turned towards him. He raised his arm and his hand shifted into a miniature broadcasting dish. Bumblebee had no time to react as he was assaulted by a strong blast of sonic waves that shot from Soundwave's dish. It hit him with the force of a wrecking ball and the scout was sent crashing through about a dozen energon crystals before landing at Ironhide's feet.

"Bee!" Ironhide shouted. "Prime, Bee's been taken out!"

Optimus ducked under a barge of missiles that Starscream shot at him and rolled to the side to avoid the exploding energon. "Ironhide, take Bumblebee and retreat!"

"But the Minicon!" Prowl protested.

"We already have what we came for we can't risk losing any more of our number!" Optimus said. Ironhide did as he was told, collecting the wound Bumblebee and the Minicons before running over to the save entrance. Soundwave turned to his companions.

"Objective complete. Tactical retreat recommended." He said. Starscream looked at him outraged.

"Retreat? Did you forget that we have a cave of energon here? If we leave then the Autobots will seize the energon!" He shouted. Before entering the ground bridge Soundwave gave him some parting words.

"Obvious suggestion: blow the mine."

Optimus looked Bumblebee over and noted the severe damage done to his chasis and probably some internal damage as well. "We need to get him out of here now!"

Ironhide nodded and was about to call Ratchet when he saw Starscream in front of them. The seeker grinned at them before holding up what appeared to be a photon bomb, a really nasty piece of work.

"I'd love to stay and chat Autobots but I have more important things to do. So here's a goodbye present from me to you!" Starscream chucked the mob into a cluster of large energon crystals and jumped into the ground bridge just as it vanished.

"Ratchet, get us a ground bridge now!" Prowl yelled. Seconds later the bomb exploded and it caused a chain reaction that caused the rest of the energon to explode. Fortunately the ground bridge appeared and the Autobots ran into the portal, which soon vanished before the whole cave erupted into a blue inferno.

XXXXXXX

Bumblebee sat on a recharge slab in the med bay with an unhappy look on his face. He just spent an hour in the CR chamber and Ratchet was doing some work on the last few dents in his armor. They had succeeded in rescuing Rollbar and Liftor but they lost the first stasis panel to be activated. One Minicon to be left to suffer at Megatron's hands. Optimus and Ironhide understood that he tried his best, but Prowl wasn't as understanding.

"What was that?" Prowl asked, his voice tight with agitation. "No really, what was that? Because I don't know what exactly I saw out there."

"Well, there was a lot of shooting and explosions so..." The look Prowl gave him forced Bumblebee to trail off.

"You had one job to do, and that was get the panel. Not try to engage Soundwave!"

"I thought I could take him."

"Well you thought wrong."

"How was I supposed to know that I wasn't supposed to fight him? I didn't wake up this morning thinking that Soundwave, a bot who has the personality of a turbofox and rarely leaves the Nemesis , was a martial arts master equal to Megatron?" Bumblebee replied, also losing his patience. Prowl's grilling wasn't helping his attitude. "Get off my back!"

"No I wont get off your back! We lost a Minicon and now Megatron has gained the advantage over us." Prowl continued.

"Prowl, leave Bee alone, he did his best." Sparkplug said walking up to them. He gave Prowl a look. "And I appreciate it if you didn't refer to us as if we're weapons of mass destruction."

"As long as the Decpeticons hold even one of you in their possession then you might as well be deemed as such." Prowl said.

"Enough!" The arguing bots were quickly silenced by Optimus, who rarely raised his voice. "Prowl, go to the bridge. I will speak with you later."

"But Prime," Prowl clamped up when Optimus gave him a look, blue optics flashing.

"That wasn't a suggestion." Optimus said. Prowl stiffened and nodded, marching out of the room without looking back.

"Finally, some piece and quiet." Ratchet groaned.

"Optimus, Sparkplug, I am so sorry." Bumblebee said, looking defeated now that the wind was gone from his sails. "I tried, really, but Soundwave..."

"There is no need to apologize, Bumblebee, we know you tried." Optimus assured the scout. Sparkplug nodded.

"No one blames you for losing the panel. I've already made my peace with the possibility that we may not be able to save all of the Minicons." Sparkplug told him. It was a grim truth, but a necessary one. Not everyone could be saved in war.

"Even still, I would appreciate it if you would refrain from taking such risks in the future." Optimus ordered Bumblebee. "There's a thin line between being a hero, and being a memory."

"Understood, sir." Bumblebee smiled.

Optimus and Sparkplug left the med bay to allow Bumblebee to get his rest, and they walked in silence before Sparkplug decided to address the elephant in the room.

"Optimus, what do we do?" Sparkplug asked. "Megatron has already gotten the first panel."

"He merely started the arms race that will begin for your people. And we will do what we've always done," Optimus replied sagely. "Save those that can be saved. Nothing more, nothing less."

Sparkplug said nothing, simply nodding and continuing on his way. Though he didn't show it, he was deeply worried for the poor soul within that panel. He only hoped that whoever it was would stay safe until they could be rescued.

XXXXXXX

Megatron and Nightshade stood in the bridge of the Nemesis, watching as Soundwave walked through the doors with Starscream and Knockout following behind him. Lazerbeak flew inside and landed on Nightshade's shoulder. Soundwave walked up to Megatron and held out the panel.

"Here is the stasis panel, Megatron." Soundwave said. Megatron smiled and took the tiny panel from him.

"Excellent work Soundwave. As always you are someone I can rely on to get the job done." He said.

Starscream and Knockout both huffed in annoyance at Soundwave getting the praise, though he did deserve it.

"It is paramount that we get as many Minicon as we can to further our cause on this planet, but this one in particular is very special." Megatron said.

"Why's that?" Nightshade asked. Megatron grinned and held the panel up between his thumb and finger.

"Do you really think that the Exodus crashing was an accident. As we speak there are dozens of Decepticon-aligned Minicons hidden among the refugees who had a hand in the sabotage of the ship. And its all thanks to my little friend here."

Megatron applied some pressure on the panel and it began to glow. He opened his hand as the panel began to dissolve and reconfigure into a humanoid shape. Once the light died down, a Minicon stood in Megatron's palm. He was grey, with blue armor on his arms and legs, and had a yellow visor that glowed ominously in the dark light of the ship. He looked around t his surroundings and then glanced up at the devilish face of Megaton.

"Welcome to the land of the living, Leader-1." Megatrn greeted him. Leader-1, chief among Cybertron's Decepticon Minicon(Mini-Cons) population, bowed his head in respect to his master.

"I live to serve you, Lord Megatron."


	4. Truth and Lies

Chapter 4-Truth and Lies

The Helic Rupblic army base sat in the middle of the arid, rocky landscape of the southern state of Zona Arida. The state was not a place to the weary, much less a whole base of soldiers who were going to spend most of the day doing heavy labor or training. Temperatures were known to reach above a hundred degrees and at night, it could drop to a little below zero. You weren't getting a brake in Zona Arida, but as the military personnel say, "At least it isn't Mexica".

The whole reason they were here in the first place was because there had been reports of Karaba activity in the area, probably some small scale business going on between the two countries in secret. But for the HR, Karaba was dangerous enough to warrant military intervention. Thus the construction of a military base and regular patrols to scout the area for the hidden terrorist cell.

Standing guard at the entrance to the base were three Talos. These units were the main force of the Helic Republic mobile infantry; the M6 Bushnell. Like most Talos, they were around 4 meters tall and sported a vaguely humanoid configuration fitted with laminated armor often used for tanks. They armor was a dark blue, almost black color, and their heads were flat and long with yellow visors over a singular optical camera. They made up the majority of the Republic's mecha forces, along with the M4 Murphy mecha tanks that predated them, which were no different from modern Talos save for sporting a pair of modified tank treads instead of legs.

The cockpit was where the pilot operated the Talos. It had three directional monitors in front of the pilot seat that showed video images from the viewpoint of the main camera in the head. On the pilot seat were two flexible joysticks that controlled the Talos' arms, and foot pedals the controlled the Talos' movement; right pedal for throttle, left pedal for reverse movement/brake.

The Bushnell units were large and bulky, and were not very fast. Though they were powerhouses in battle, in the heat of Zona Arida, they could turn into walking deathtraps if the pilot was not careful. Aside from the usual problems of overheating, the cockpits were not built with air conditioners, so heat stroke were a very real threat when operating in the desert. It was just one of many things the average Talos pilot had to worry about aside from either breaking down from malfunctions or getting ambushed and torn apart by Karaba's espers.

"Hey." Said Unit-003.

"Yeah?" Unit-002 asked.

"Why are we here?"

"What?"

"Why are we here? I just wanted to know." He said.

"I don't know man. That's like asking why are we born or is there truly a purpose in life. I sometimes ask myself that same question when I'm alone and it damn does it keep me up at night. Sometimes I wonder if god is just playing with s the same way we play with toys." Unit-003 replied in a dull tone. Unit-002 just stared at him stoically before speaking.

"No, I mean why are we here, out in the heat inside bulky power armor? Like in the middle of this state's equivalent of spring?"

"Oh," Unit-002 said and coughed. "Um, I have no idea."

"What was all that stuff about god?"

"Nothing."

"…You wanna talk about it?"

"No, I'm fine."

'Idiots.' Uni-001 thought. And these were the people he was stuck working with. Good lord this was a dull job.

Then he noticed something strange. A small black shape that was airborne in the distance, its appearance slightly distorted from the heat waves. He enhanced the vision of his suit's visor and saw that it was a black hawk helicopter.

"Huh. Wonder what that thing's doing here." He asked himself. He also saw a two other chopper escorting the Black Hawk to the base, so watch command must feel every bit as uneasy as he does at this moment.

The sight of a Black Hawk chopper wasn't a rare sight in this part of the country, there were a few at the base right now, but what had everyone on edge was that it was sporting a model number of a chopper that was shot down in this area around two years ago. Even more suspicious was that it wasn't answering to any of their calls, getting only static in response.

An entire battalion of Humvees and Talos were posted in the air field where the Black Hawk was descending, their weapons pointed right at the chopper. Once the chopper has fully landed, the CO spoke over the bullhorn.

"Attention crew of the MH-53 Black Hawk, shit off your engines and stand clear of the vehicle or we will kill you." The CO said. The soldiers took aim at once. But there was no movement from the pilot. "This is your last warning."

For a moment nothing happened. The soldiers all began to look uneasy about what was going on. Then to their surprise, the pilot just-vanished! Like a bad television transmission. At the same time all the electronics in the base began going haywire, from lightbulbs to computers, anything electronic began short circuiting.

Then the chopper's rotors stopped in place and folded back, and at once the chopper began to-change. It was changing, shifting, metamorphosing even as the soldiers stared in its direction.

It had feet, arms and a head. It also had a name: Blackout. But the soldiers did not see or sense that, and the Decepticon made no effort to identify himself. Almost at once, everyone opened fire on the metal giant, but their bullets had no effect on his body. Blackout looke around and raised his fist, slamming it into the ground.

There was a mighty thunderclap, a huge spherical shockwave that blasted everyone off their feet. And then the slaughter began.

XXXXXXX

Two days had passed since the meeting with the kids and the Minicons. Things was finally starting to settle down for the Autobots in the Ark, and they've managed to include their new additions into their daily pattern. But everyone was still on high alert, as a stasis panel could pop up at any time. As evidenced by the second panel's activation.

Optimus Prime and his SIC Prowl stood in the Ark's bridge watching a news report on the Teletran-1 interface. The report was a breaking news story that was telling about a military base that was attacked and destroyed, with no survivors.

"That is a bold move on the Cons' part." Prowl noted. He didn't seem bothered by the death toll the humans took, rather he was more bothered by the implications of the attack. "It's not like them to just up and attack a military base like this in the early stages."

"Megatron would spend no expense at obtaining the Minicons, even at the risk of exposing themselves." Optimus said.

It was bad luck that the Minicon panel was located under the military base. It was painfully clear that the Cons had no qualms about erasing any evidence of their presence through violent means, and did the way they did it best, through infiltration. And now another Minicon was in their possession and the human casualties were high.

'What a way to start off an arms race.' Prowl thought dryly. Looking at Optimus, he asked, "Do you think they'll do it again?"

"Not likely. Megatron only did this to get a head start on us. But open confrontation with the humans will prove counter-productive at best. Hopefully this is the only time that such a tragedy will occur."

BOOM! A loud explosion rattled the base and Optimus and Prowl both ran into the hallway to see smoke leaking from a room not too far from the bridge.

"Oh for Primus' sake, what did Wheeljack blow up this time?" Prowl said.

But to his surprise, it wasn't the engineer who caused it, but their new human friends, who had stumbled out of the room covered in soot that was on their clothes and faces. High Wire, Sureshock and Grindor exited the room as well.

"Sorry, false alarm." Darren coughed. "No one's hurt."

"Speak for yourself, Mr. No-hands, my ears are ringing from that crap." Annie scowled.

"Oh relax Annie, the explosion wasn't that big." Gwen chided.

"Would someone please explain what is going on here?" Prowl said impatiently.

"We were trying to use red Dust to power the computer consoles here but Darren used too much and they exploded." High Wire said.

"Not to worry though, the kid shielded us from the flames. It was pretty cool actually." Grindor said.

"Don't you mean hot?" Sureshock asked wryly. Grindor looked at her before laughing.

"Ha! That was a good one, you crazy girl!" He cackled. Annie face palmed herself.

"And who exactly gave you this room?"

"I did." Sparkplug walked up to them from the computer hub. "The kids and Minicons need a place to stay, so we can be out of your way. Especially if we're going to be spending a lot of time here."

Prowl didn't look very happy at Sparkplug taking the initiative on his own and claiming space in the Ark for themselves, but any objections he had went unsaid as Teletran began letting out an alert. Prowl rushed over to the console to see what was wrong.

"What is it?" Sparklug asked.

"Another Minicon panel just came online." Prowl said.

XXXXXXX

Blackout entered the bridge of the Nemesis with his prize clutched in his hand. He roughly pushed past Starscream and approached Megatron. He presented the panel to the warlord in a humble bow.

"Lord Megatron, I have come with another panel for you." He said. Megatron smirked.

"Good work, Blackout. Have you made sure there were no witnesses?" Megatron asked. Blackout nodded.

"Yes sir. I was very thorough in my extermination of the pests. They didn't put up much of a fight."

"Good. Despite the current circumstances stealth and secrecy remains paramount. We must maintain our cover on this world until the time is right." Megatron took the panel from Blackout and held it out towards Nightshade. "I believe this belongs to you."

"What! How come she gets a Minicon?!" Starscream bellowed, outraged. "She barely lifted a finger!"

"Because unlike you Starscream, Nightshade has proven her loyalty to me and the cause." Megatron replied. Starscream huffed but didn't say anything more. No point in starting a fight about it, since he was going to get punched into next week to speaking his mind.

Nightshade took the panel and had it read her bio-signature. Another Decepticon panel hidden among the refugees, designed to be only awakened by a Decepticon. Like the last panel, this one dissolved and reconfigured into the Minicon. This one was far different than Leader-1.

It was a femme, with bright golden armor and a large owl's head on her chest. Her arms and legs looked long and thin, tipped with pointed claws that looked very sharp. Her face was petite, with a pair of large, round red optics that glowed brilliantly and a thin mouth also painted red.

"Tell you master your name, Minicon." Megatron ordered.

Nightshade marveled at the surprisingly extravagant Minicon as she looked up at the much larger femme.

"I am Songbird, mistress. It is an honor to be in your service." Songbird said in a soft, airy voice that sounded like wind chimes. Nightshade smiled down at her partner.

"Hello Songbird."

"Let this be an example to all of you!" Megatron said, looking at the assembled Cons. "Those who serve me loyally without falter will be handsomely rewarded. But try to disrupt my efforts and go against our righteous cause," He gave Starscream a dark glare as he said that. "And you won't live to see the next sunrise. Am I clear?"

"Yes, Lord Megatron!"

XXXXXXX

Everyone had gathered in the computer room as Optimus brought up a holographic map of the continent where the panel was situated-Europa. The red beacon that showed the panel's location was in the continent's central region.

"The panel is located in the kingdom of Nabradia. Somewhere in a town named Prague." Prowl explained. "The city has been abandoned for a decade due to an earthquake so we don't have to worry about maintaining much of a disguise."

"But the panel's signal is faint. We can barely get a lock on its coordinates." Ratchet said

"Any idea as to what's causing its disruption?" Optimus asked. Before Prowl could answer, Gina cut into the conversation.

"It must be underground," She said. "Half of the city was buried after it was hit by the freak earthquake. It might be possible that it was inside the city when the place was leveled and is now underground."

"How can you be so sure?" Prowl asked skeptically. "You've never even been to Prague. And we don't have any solid evidence that it's underground in the first place."

"If the signal we're getting is anything like usual electrical signals, then the reason it's so faint is because it's being covered by a thick layer of rock." She easily answered.

"Try to argue that Mr. 'Don't talk me because I'm not your friend'." Annie smirked.

"Can you estimate how far its underground Gwen?" Optimus asked. Gwen shrugged.

"I can only say that it must not be that far down if Teletran can still detect it. Sorry."

"No need to apologize. You've already helped us as it is. Ratchet activate the ground bridge." Optimus turned to Prowl. "Prowl, call up Arcee and Bumblebee. Urban combat is there specialty."

"Yes, Prime." Prowl nodded and made his out of the hub. Annie raised her hand.

"Hey, Optimus? What do we do?"

"I'm sorry?"

"What can we do to help?" She asked. The present Autobots looked at her surprised.

"You want to come with us?" Sparkplug said.

"That is out of the question, Annie. These missions are ver dangerous and I will not endanger you by taking you along."

"But we won't be anywhere near all the fighting! We'll be the ones to find the Minicons for you guys while you go kick Con ass."

"The answer is still no."

"She has a point Optimus." Darren spoke up. "Those caves are very small, too small for you guys to get into. We would have no problem getting through there."

"And we have Darren and the Minicons to keep us safe in case anything goes wrong." Gwen added.

Optimus was reluctant to adhere to such a request. He had already involved these children enough just by association alone, this was just too much. But another part of him noted that they had a point. The panel was basically inaccessible to them, but not did they have a chance of getting to it, the search itself will keep them away from the heavy fighting that will inevitably occur.

"High Wire," He said. When the Minicon stepped forward, he continued, "You keep these children safe by any means necessary. If things get too harrowing for you, then you abandon the mission and get out there. Understood?"

"Yes sir."

"Don't worry Optimus, I'll go along with them to give them some extra protection." Sparkplug said and smiled down at the children. "They're in safe hands."

"Very well. Autobots, let move out!"

XXXXXXX

The city of Prague was not that old a city. Many of the buildings that survived the earthquake that ravaged the region were still intact, if a bit in disrepair. As he led the team through the desolate streets of the city, Optimus noted how eerie the place was when devoid of life. Such cities were stock full of humans, so seeing this place completely deserted was alien to him. Riding inside him were the kids, with their Minicon partners riding alongside Sparkplug in their vehicle modes.

"Wow, an earthquake did all this?" Bumblebee asked. "I didn't think that earthquakes did this much damage in Europa."

"That's why it's so strange." Gina said. "You'd never expect Europa of all places to get hit by a large quake like this but it happened. Mother Nature was always unpredictable like that. Didn't make the death toll any less horrific."

Indeed the city was basically split in half, with a large jagged crack running down the middle of the city where the fault line was located. Large sharp earthen spikes jutted up from the ground and a deep ridge bordered where the city square used to be. This was the place where the children would be going in to find the panel. Once there, the kids got out of Optimus and the Autobots took on their bipedal forms.

"Oh boy," Darren said as he looked down the steep slope that led into the earth. "Uh, you sure this is the quickest way to the panel?"

"Yeah, the signal is stronger here." Gina said without a care. She did some stretches and took a deep breath. "Okay, I'm all ready to roll."

"Same here." Annie said.

"Remember, if you get into trouble down there, pull out immediately. Don't take any risks, do you understand?" Arcee asked.

"Yes, yes we get it Arcee, at the first sign of trouble get the hell out of dodge. Now can we go already?" Annie grunted as she jumped down into the crevice and began to climb down.

Darren took a deep breath and followed his sister, with the others doing the same. Sparkplug gave Optimus one last reassuring nod before entering the hole. Arcee crossed her arms, unable to shake off her unease.

"Is anyone else feeling that this is a really bad idea?" She asked.

"Relax, Arcee. Those kids know what they're getting into. They have Sparkplug and Centurion watching their backs." Bumblebee said.

"The Minicons can't protect them from everything. Sure they're smart enough to avoid trouble…" she thought about Annie. "Well, most of them, but if a Con gets past us-"

"That will not happen." Optimus said. "Because we will be right here standing guard. You two set up a perimeter around the crevice and stay alert, the Decepticons may already be here."

And he was right, for up in the sky, the Minicon Lazerbeak was watching them from above, circling their position like a vulture waiting for its prey to die. He broke his pursuit and flew to a distant corner of the city on the other side of the crevice, where Soundwave was waiting with Megatron and Nightshade. Lazerbeak landed on his master's shoulder and cawed.

"Megatron, Lazerbeak has reported three Autobots sighted at the edge of the crevice. Optimus Prime is here as well." Soundwave said. Megatron nodded.

"Good, I was looking for a good fight. Soundwave you stay back and monitor the field from here." Megatron ordered. Soundwave nodded.

"Understood."

"Starscream, do you copy?" Megatron asked. Up above, far out of the range of Autobot sensors, Starscream was flying above their position.

"Loud and clear."

"I want you and Nightshade to move in and attack them with all your firepower. We need their attention diverted on us." He said.

"Don't worry Megatron, I'm sure I can complete the task even with your pet bird holding me down." The seeker said arrogantly and dived into the clouds.

Nightshade paid him no mind, making a mental note to break his wings when this was over and quietly got into one of the hollowed out buildings. Looking out through the hole in the building, Nightshade turned to the small purple owl Minicon on her shoulder.

"You know what to do." She said.

Songbird nodded and jumped up, powerlinking to the port on Nightshade's right forearm. Her limb sizzled with energy before the armor opened up and her hand split apart to reveal a dark violet railgun that was crackling with energy, while on her arm, Songbird's body had shift in its configuration. Her beast mode's head was pointed forwards and had become a laser targeting system. Nightshade looked out the large hole of the building and pointed her railgun at Prime's head. At her mental command, the weapon began to charge its energy, giving off a soft hum. Waiting for Songbird to lock on to Prime's head, Nightshade fired her railgun and a narrow energy blast cut through the air towards Optimus.

XXXXXXX

When the kids said that the underground was no place for an Autobot, they weren't exaggerating, Sparkplug mused. He noted how little space there was down in the cavern they climbed down into, barley enough for the Minicons let alone the kids. The tunnel itself led deep into the earth, and if it wasn't for the kids' flashlights, then they would've been in complete darkness.

Gina had Skyspy go on ahead and scout the safest route to the panel and map the way for them to follow. The area was still pretty unstable and it would be best not to spend too much time down here.

They exited the tunnel and centered a large cavern that looked wide enough to hold a mall parking lot. The scattered remains of buildings littered the ground, either completely turned to rubble or partially damaged from the quake. It was surprising to see that there were even buildings that were still intact or that there was so much space down here as well.

"So on a scale of one to ten, how likely is the chance of a cave-in?" Grindor asked.

"Grindor," High Wire sighed.

"I'm sorry but its just that you can never be too careful with these things. I had a friend back on Luna-2, an energon miner, he was an expert on stuff like this and knew where you should and shouldn't mine based on how structurally sound a cave was. And you wanna know what happened to him?"

Sparkplug decided to humor him. "No Grindor, what?"

"He got killed in a quake, a giant boulder just up and crushed him. Offlined him instantly. And this happened in a cave he said was totally fine to work in." Grindor said. Gina groaned and turned to look at him.

"What's your point Grindor, we're trying to do our job here." She said annoyed.

"I'm just saying that you can never know how caves work. Hell this place can come crashing down on our heads any-"

"We get the idea, Grindor now please stop talking." Darren pleaded. This wasn't helping his rising paranoia at all.

Buzzsaw led them deeper into the tunnels until they came upon a pile of rubble that was formerly a building. Skyspy returned to Gina and landed on her shoulder, motioning its camera beak towards the huge pile of rocks in front of them.

"I think Skyspy found the panel." She said and pointed to the rocks before them. "Its somewhere in there."

"Must've been buried when the earthquake hit." High Wire noted.

"Great, how are we going to get it now? Any one got an shovels?" Grindor asked.

"No, but we do have a telekinetic." Annie grinned at her brother. Darren took a deep breath and stepped forward.

"This shouldn't be any problem for me." He said. "I just need some concentration and-"

The place shook a little and the sound of an explosion was heard not too far away from them. The kids and their Minicons were suddenly alert when they realized that the sounds were coming from the surface.

"Slag, looks like the party just started up there." Grindor said.

"You have no idea Auto-brat!"

They spun around to see three Minicons approaching them, and none of them looked friendly. The lead one was grey and blue with a yellow visor. Behind him were two taller Minicons, each about twelve feet tall, and were twins. One was red and black with a blue visor, and the other was blue with large bulky clawed arms and sported a red visor. The Street Action Team got in front of the children as Sparkplug looked at the newcomer shocked.

"Leader-1?"

"Sparkplug, how nice it is to see you." Leader-1 sneered. "I thought that you'd have perished in the crash with your little band of pacifists, but I guess that was too much to ask Mortilus, huh?"

Sparkplug was completely shocked by this new discovery. Leader-1 was like his main confidant, his right hand mech. They worked on many projects together, from the Exodus' construction to the gestalt program. They had went to great lengths to preserve Minicon safety and independence during the War for Cybertron, but here he was, working for the Decepticons who want to enslave them all.

"How are you even here? Why are you with the Decepticons?" Sparkplug asked.

"That's a story for another time, one I don't plan on telling." He turned to his two companions. "Rumble, Frenzy. Kill them all."

XXXXXXXX

Optimus reacted before he even saw the blast heading towards his head. He jumped back just as the beam shot past his face and embedded itself into a building. It caused the building to explode, sending debris flying everywhere. Without pause, Optimus raised his ion cannon and fired it in the direction the attack came from. Nightshade was quick to vacate the building she was hiding in just as the blast blew it to smitherines. She continued shooting blasts at the Autobots even as they fired upon her, not showing any hesitation in her reactions.

Bumblebee then noticed the jet heading straight towards them. Starscream, who opened deployed his two hunter missiles and flew away from the blaster fire. Bumblebee and Arcee dived out of the way as the missiles impacted the ground and shook the area with their massive explosions.

"Wow, these guys aren't playing!" Bumblebee said. He saw that Starscream was circling around to deliver another payload and grinned. "Not today Screamy."

Taking aim with his blaster, Bumblebee focused his acute optic sensors on Starscream's fast moving form. A lesser known fact about Bumblebee was that his optics were very sensitive and acute enough to actually spot targets from long distances, a requirement that suited a scout like him. Timing his shot, he fired a blast that cut through the air and hit the seeker's right wing dead center. Starscream cried out in surprise as he was hit, not expecting anyone other than Prime to be that good a shooter. He spun in the air before doing a nose dive and transforming just before he hit the ground, firing the boosters in his feet to slow his impact as he hit the ground.

"Now you know what it's like being on solid ground like the rest of us." Bumblebee taunted him.

"You insufferable ingrate!" Starscream growled. ""I'll-"

He was cut off when Arcee jumped in and kneed him in the face, sending him crashing into a ravaged building. Arcee gave the yellow Autobot a disapproving look.

"Can you save the witty remarks for later Bee?"

"Sorry." He grinned.

Optimus continued firing at Nightshade who was ducking in between buildings, popping out only long enough to shoot back at him before hiding behind cover again. Seeing that his partners had Starscream occupied, he advanced upon the femme, firing his cannon enough times to keep her from retaliating.

"Prime!"

A silver tank came crashing out of a building and rammed into Optimus, sending him through what was left of the destroyed buildings and into the city square. Optimus grunted as he lifted the tank and threw it over his head with his powerful arms. He watched as the tank split apart, taking on a humanoid configuration as he landed and scowled at Prime.

"Megatron," Optimus said lowly. "I was beginning to wonder if you were ever going to show."

"Why would I miss out on obtaining the third Minicon, Prime?" Megatron smirked. "We've been on a winning streak after all."

"Only you would treat the Minicons as if they were trophies!"

"But they are, you're just too afraid to relish in the power they grant!"

At the speed of thought, Megatron willed his fusion cannon to fire, releasing a powerful beam that shot over Optimus' shoulder, vaporizing the structure behind him. Optimus was quick to close the distance, kicking his arm to the side and drawing his orange battle axe. Megatron brought out his blade from his wrist and blocked the downward swing.

"Where are your Minicons, Megatron? I thought you would jump at the chance o make them dance to your tune." Optimus grunted as he pushed against his nemesis.

"As usual you jump to conclusions Prime. What makes you think that I am using them against their own will? They fight for my goals the same way your mindless drones fight for yours."

Megatron kicked Optimus away and slashed a cut into his torso. The cut wasn't deep, but it was noticeable. Optimus jumped back and readied his axe.

"In fact, my most trusted Minicon is currently doing my bidding for me, getting the panel and wiping out those pathetic lifeforms you so valiantly protect." Megatron laughed. Optimus' optics grew wide.

"The children!"

XXXXXXX

Darren telekinetically lifted the rocks in his way as quickly as he could, trying to focus on his task while the battle was going on not to far from him and the girls. Their guardians had merged into Centurion and were fighting both Rumble and Frenzy at once. The gestalt was holding his own against the two Mini-Cons, but the constant blows from Rumbles pile driver arms were string to wear him down. Each blow was enough to knock him off his feet, and having Frenzy nearly gore through him with his hand drills made it hard to concentrate. Even still, the two Mini-Cons still had a hard time fighting Centurion.

Sparkplug and Leader-1 were engaged in a very intense close quarters match, lighting up the dark cave with the sparks that came from their clashing blows. Leader-1 gave him no quarter as he did his best to try to get the upper hand on Sparkplug.

"Why? Why are you doing this?" Sparkplug asked. "I thought we were friends. I thought you wanted to leave the war!"

Leader-1 responded by kicking him in the chest and following up with a spinning kick that knocked him back.

"Leave? Sparkplug, who do you think told the Cons about the Exodus in the first place you piece of slag!" Leader-1 cackled. "I never wanted to leave, I wanted to be in control. To be a apart of the winning team."

"Do you realize what Megatron is doing to us Minicon's? He's enslaving us!" Sparkplug shouted.

"Only the disobedient ones. You made a grave mistake, Sparkplug, and that was trying to be neutral in a war where picking a side decides whether you live or die. There is no neutrality anymore, its either us or them! And you chose them!"

Leader-1 transformed and deployed two orange cannons from the top of his cab. But he didn't point them at Sparkplug. Instead he took aim at the children.

"Kids!" Sparkplug shouted.

Leader-1 fired two laser blasts from his cannons and watched gleefully as they shot towards the humans. But to his surprise one of the humans, the boy, spun around and held up his arms. Inches away from their target, the blasts exploded against an invisible shield that protected the children from harm.

"What the hell?" Leader-1 growled.

But he didn't have time to seeth at his own failure as Darren waved his arms and telekinetically lifted six large rocks and shot them at the Mini-Con. Two missed but the other four hit their mark, slamming into Leader-1 with enough force to daze him. Sparkplug took this moment to run up to him and grapple his enemy's vehicle mode.

"Don't interfere, just get the panel!" He shouted. Darren looked at him shocked.

"But-"

"Just get it and go!"

Darren still didn't like leaving Sparkplug alone like this, but Gina brought him back to the task at hand.

"Darren, it's right there. We just have to grab it and go before they start losing steam in this fight." Gina said.

He sighed but nodded, lifting more rocks out of the way and trying to move the large boulders the best he could. It was only a few seconds before he managed to uncover what they came for. A familiar hexagonal stasis panel boring the Minicon faction symbol, which was emitting a green glow. Gina snatched it up and turned to her friends.

"Let's go." She said.

Frenzy grunted as he took a punch straight to his jaw and crashed to the ground. He didn't sign up for getting tossed around like a rag doll by some freak of nature! He was about to jump back into the fight when he saw the kids running down the cave with the panel in their possession.

"Bro!" He yelled to Rumble.

"I see them!" Rumble grinned.

Taking his focus off Centurion for a moment, he jumped up and slammed his arms into the ground. The shockwaves caused by his pile driver arms caused the whole cave to tremble and knocked everyone off balance. Annie had to push Darren and Gina away to avoid a falling boulder from crushing them. Leader-1 shook off Sparkplug and switched to his natural form, pinning the yellow Minicon into the ground. Frenzy took this chance to rush at Gina, a mad grin on his face.

"Give me the panel toots and I wont have to rearrange your face!" He threatened. But Gina wasn't scared at all.

"Try it and see what happens!" She said and tossed the panel over to Annie. "Annie!"

"On it!" The brunette ran backwards and caught the panel in the air like it was a football. "I got it!"

"And I got you!"

Annie screamed as Rumble suddenly appeared behind her. Acting fast, she threw the panel over to her brother.

"Darren, go deep!"

Darren did a huge leap and caught the panel in his hands. He landed on the ground and looked up just in time to see Annie in the strong grip of Rumble. His blood ran cold at the sight and everything seemed to freeze.

"Hand over the panel or I'll snap her neck!" Rumble snarled.

XXXXXXXX

"I don't know why, but I thought that the great cyber-ninja Arcee would be a better shot than this."

Arcee gritted her teeth as she continued to fire her blaster at the black bird. Her visual accuracy was usually spot on and Nightshade would've been riddled with laser burns by now, but the Decepticon's reflexes were highly adept, avoiding the blasts the moment they leave the barrel of the gun. Even in robot mode, she was like a black blurr, doing flips and spins that Arcee had only seen seasoned Circuit-Su masters perform.

Nightshade landed on the ground and shifted to her beast mode, her large avian form hovered above the ground. Multiple, barely visible panels opened up on her winds and from underneath her feathers came a volley of small but very lethal EMP missiles. Arcee cursed as she cut off her assault and skillfully dodged and flipped over the missiles, which would've taken her out of the fight if they hit her and leave one hell of a headache the next day, if not put her in a coma. Explosions littered the area, and Nightshade's vision was soon eclipsed by smoke.

Then Arcee leapt from the smoke, cerulean blades in hand, and stabbed one into Nightshade's right wing. The Con let out a pained cry and transformed, grabbing Arcee by the throat and throwing her away. Nightshade grabbed one of her feathers, which extended into a long, thin ebony blade, and ran forward. The two femmes met midway, their blades clanging together.

"Why the angry face? Not use to fighting out in the open like that?" Arcee grinned.

Nightshade didn't answer to her taunts. In an unexpected move, she lashed out with her left hand, slashing Arcee across the face with her sharp fingertips. The pink Autobot staggered back and clutched the deep scratch marks on her right optic and face, leaving her open to a series of quick slashes and kicks from Nightshade. She quickly leapt back but the femme pursued her with her blade in hand. Arcee quickly brought her own weapon up to avoid getting beheaded by the wicked blade.

"Only a weakling talks while fighting!" Nightshade said.

"That's because you're too primitive to do two things at once!" Arcee hissed.

Meanwhile, Bumblebee was racing through the tarnished city trying to avoid the constant bombardment of armor piercing incendiary bullets that Starscream peppered him with. The yellow Autobot weaved through the streets, trying to shake off the seeker, but couldn't stop without getting a chasis full of lead pumped into him.

"Pathetic fools!" Starscream roared. "There's no escape!"

Starscream stopped his assault, but the slight reprieve was only a prelude to the other weapon in Starscream's arsenal. Bumblebee turned a corner when he saw the seeker release a couple of missiles from his bomb bay hatch.

"Oh scrap." Bumblebee groaned.

A trail of large explosions littered the area, causing the ground to rumble and filling the air with deafening booms that sounded like a hundred C4 going off at once. Bumblebee could feel the heat of the fiery plumes on his trunk as he transformed and dived out of the way, crashing into a statue in his haste. He groaned, shaking the dull ringing in his audio receptors from his head as he saw Starscream fly over him and into the air. When he saw that the Con was circling around to do another missile run, the scout had enough.

"Alright," He grunted. "I've always wanted to fly to the moon."

He hopped on top of the buildings, wincing as he felt the structure groaned under his weight. Starscream dived towards the Autobot with the intention of shooting two missiles at the little scout and calling it a day. What the seeker didn't expect was for Bumblebee to suddenly leap up and grab onto him! he extra weight caused Starsceam to become unbalanced and he spun out of control, doing barrel rolls in mid air and flying around haphazardly.

"Get off me you fool!" Starscream shouted.

"Like hell I am, this is awesome!" Bumblebee retorted.

The scout didn't let go of the seeker even when they crashed through the interior of a hollowed out church. He held onto the wing with all of his strength, but when he noticed Starscream start to fly higher into the air, he realize that he'd have to cut this flight short. Hanging on with one hand, Bumblebee raised his hand and punched a hole in the seeker's wing, eliciting a cry of pain. They spun around in the air as Starscream spiraled out of control, and as they neared the ground, Bumblebee jumped off and hit the ground hard enough to lose the feeling in his legs. Starscream transformed to get out of his death spiral and fired the boosters in his feet to slow his decent. The tactic was the only reason his legs didn't shatter upon impacting the ground, leaving a trail of destruction in his wake as he crashed through multiple buildings before rolling to a stop. He was out for the count.

As for the scout, he was lying in a pile of rubble, his whole body hurting from the previous artillery fire and the rough landing.

"Ugh, now no one can say I didn't do my job," He laughed. "Take that Prowl! Ow..."

XXXXXXX

"Hand over the panel now or the girl gets it!" Rumble shouted.

"I'd do it if I were you, boy." Leader-1 said, keeping Sparkplug pinned. "Rumble is not known for his mercy."

"Don't give it to him, bro!" Annie shouted. She grunted when Rumble tightened his grip on her.

"Shut up!" He hissed.

Darren's heart was beating a mile a minute. He didn't know what to do. They came down here intending to save a minicon, but he couldn't let his sister get killed doing so! Glancing at Sparkplug, he saw that the yellow Minicon wanted him to give up the panel. For him, risking Annie's life wasn't worth it. But then he had an idea.

"Okay, you win, I'll hand I over to you." He said.

Letting go of the panel, he slowing let it float over to Rumble, his hands in the air. Annie was about to protest his actions when she saw the look in Darren's eyes. As he let the panel float in the air like a feather, Daren's focus was on creating a barely noticeable telekinetic bubble between Annie and Rumble, using his mind's eye to manifest it as discreetly as possible. He let the panel get closer and when Rumble reached out with his free claw to grab it, that's when he made his move.

BANG!

A deafening bang like a gunshot echoed in the cave. Darren exploded the tiny telekinetic bubble like a cherry bomb, the compressed air letting out a startling sound that not only stunned Rumble but caused him to loose his grip on Annie. She was propelled forward by the force, and the panel came rushing back into Darren's hands.

"No!" Leader-1 shouted.

Centurion rushed towards Frenzy, snatching him up by the shoulders and throwing him at Leader-1. The deployer crashed into Leader-1 and they both went crashing into the wall. Sparkplug jumped up and fired his blaster at Rumble, keeping him at bay long enough for the kids to regroup. Darren clenched his hands and the ground under Rumble split open, three large stone pillars shooting up from the ground and encasing him in a stone prison. It wouldn't hold him for long but long enough for them to get out of there. Frenzy jumped up and cursed.

"You're not going anywhere!" He shouted and took a deep breath. Rumble immediately knew what he was planning to do.

"No wait!"

But it did no good as Frenzy released a deafening sonic shriek that reverberated from the Minicon throughout the cave. Seeing this, Centurion used the seconds he had to pushed the kids out of the way before the sonic wave hit him like a wrecking ball. It felt as if every circuit in his body was going on overcharge, his audio receptors, which he turned off just as the wave hit him, were assaulted by a loud ringing noise that disoriented him further.

"What the hell is he doing!" Annie yelled over the noise. She couldn't even hear the words she was yelling and that was not a good sign.

Sparkplug saw Centurion stagger before falling to his knees, and to his horror he saw the gestalt break apart back into his three combiner parts. The already dazed Minicons were on the verge of falling into stasis if this kept going. And what's worse was that the structural integrity of the cave was starting to weaken. They needed to go yesterday!

"Darren!" He yelled at the boy, making hand motions at Frenzy.

Luckily Darren understood and acted quickly. He focused hard and swiped his hand. The ground under Frenzy erupted in a flurry of stone and dirt, causing Frenzy to lose his balance and fall back. His sonic scream was aimed upwards and hit the cave ceiling. Much to Rumble and Leader-1's horror, the scream had dislodged some large boulders and they came crashing down from above. A rain of boulders fell to the ground, and the Street Action Team barely had enough time to scramble out of the way before the rocks came tumbling into the ground, kicking up a plume of dust. Frenzy wasn't so lucky, he was pinned down under a boulder that fell on him, and couldn't move as he was almost completely buried under the rubble. Leader-1 tried to make a run for it, but his path was already cut off before he even made it half way there.

"No, no, no!" Leader-1 shouted in frustration. "I'm not losing to you, Sparkplug!"

Sparkplug didn't say anything. He just stared at Leader-1's cold yellow visor before the falling rocks obscured his view of the Con. Within minutes it was over, and they were safe.

Annie ran over to their guardians and checked them over. They had multiple cracks and dents along their armor from the devastating sonic attack, and were bleeding energon in some places, but they were still in one piece-so to speak.

"Are you guys alright?" She asked.

"Depends on what you constitute as alright," Grindor groaned. "Do you mean alright as in we can still hear, or as in that our internal circuitry hasn't been ruptured beyond repair?" Sureshock bonked him on his head. "Would you stop doing that?!"

"The panel. Do you have it?" High Wire asked. Darren smiled and held up the still glowing panel. He sighed in relief and fell back on to the ground. "Thank Primus."

Gina looked over at Sparkplug, who was looking at the wall of stone with an unreadable expression. She walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Sparkplug, are you alright?"

"Yes," He answered curtly. It sounded as if he was trying very hard to keep his emotions in check. The yellow Minicon turned to Gina and gave her a fake smile. "I'm fine, just tired. Let's get up to higher ground and tell Optimus the good news."

Gina didn't look convinced at all, but she knew it was best to let him be. She would let High Wire deal with it later.

XXXXXXX

The battle between the two leaders still went on. They no longer tried to take each other out at long distance but were now locked in a heated fist fight. Both mechs were launching blows that would knock a smaller bot senseless. Optimus swung his battle axe down on Megatron, but it was caught in the warlord's hands and they grappled over it. Neither leader looked close to giving up, despite their growing exhaustion. Both sides were simply buying time for their smaller counterparts to get the prize. Then the news came.

"Megatron," Leader-1's barely audible voice came in over the static ridden .

"Leader-1, what is taking you so long?" Megatron snarled. "Do you have the Minicon?"

"N-no, my lord." Leader-1 replied. "The Autobots' Minicons and their human allies had-"

"GAH!" Megatron cut the feed and kicked Prime away. He charged with his blade and slashed at Optimus, who easily blocked the strike.

"It would seem that the so-called pathetic life forms you so loathe have prevailed over your dedicated soldiers." Megatron could just hear the smirk in Prime's voice. "How unfortunate."

Megatron growled and swung his blade once more, but to his surprise, Optimus ducked under the blade and grabbed his arm. He swung his axe like it was a staff and buried the heated blade into Megatron's forearm, pulling him in close so he could look into his arch nemesis' eyes as he spoke his next words.

"You called me weak for trusting my comrades, but you are the one who is weak!" Optimus said. "You, who has spent your whole life keeping your soldiers at a distance. Using fear to keep your people in line. How long do you think that will last?"

"Shut your mouth!"

Megatron kneed Optimus in the abdomen an punched him away, making him lose his grip on his axe. Megatron pulled the axe from his arm, ignoring the burning pain of his heated armor, and ran at Optimus. Prime quickly grabbed his incoming fist and glared at Megatron.

"How long will it be before your fear tactic gets old and you're tossed to the side like yesterday's trash? Last years' damaged goods?"

Optimus kicked Megatron's feet from under him and landed a strong uppercut that sent the warlord flying back into the remains of a fountain. So enraged was Megatron at this point, he failed to notice Optimus pull his ion cannon from his back compartment.

"To them you're nothing but junk." Prime continued. "That's what you are. Junk!"

"SILENCE!"

Megatron raised his arm and prepared to blast Optimus away with his signature weapon. But Optimus was quicker. Like lightning, he was able to point his ion cannon and fired off a blast that went shooting into Megatron's fusion cannon. The reaction was immediate, the fusion cannon exploded from the inside and took a good portion of his arm along with it. Nightshade was close enough to see it and was greatly angered.

"Megatron!" She cried out.

Leaping away from Arcee, she extended her wings and fired a volley of EMP missiles at Optimus. He quickly jumped back from the attack and allowed Nightshade to attend to her commander. Megatron tried to shake her off when she tried to help him up but she wasn't having it and signaled for a ground bridge.

"What are you doing? I didn't order a retreat!" Megatron shouted.

"You're wounded and the Autobots have the Minicon. There's no reason for us to be here." Nightshade said. Looking at Starscream, she ordered, "Meet us back at the Nemesis."

Starscream scowled but obeyed her orders nonetheless, transforming and taking to the air, his red and silver form fading out of sight within minutes. 'Of course the one mission Megatron goes on and we lose to Minicon. Shocker.'

Megatron glared at Optimus even as Nightshade was leading him into the ground bridge that just manifested behind them. "This isn't over Prime." He hissed.

"No, it certainly is not." Optimus replied coolly.

The two Decepticons vanished inside the ground bridge, which also dissipated. Optimus took a moment to vent some air to cool his heated systems and looked over at Bumblebee and Arcee, who looked no worse for wear. Though Bumblebee looked like Bulkhead ran him over.

"Are you two alright?" He asked.

"Never better," Bumblebee answered weakly. "But my legs hurt."

"I'm fine as well. But what about the children?" Arcee asked with concern. "Are they still safe?"

"They're fine, Arcee. In fact, they've completed their mission." Optimus smiled.

He looked over at the opening where the crevice was and was pleased to see the children and the Minicons climb out, with no injuries save for the excess amount of dirt on their forms. And in Darren's arms was the stasis panel.

Optimus had never felt so elated in his time on this planet. The children really have proven themselves.

XXXXXXX

Sparkplug stood in the doorway at the newly built Minicon/human wing of the Ark watching the children and other Minicons greet their new member. Their new arrival was a Minicon named Tracer, who probably was probably the most bubbly femme that he had ever met. She was a slender ground-based femme with a racer car alt mode, and sported a flashy orange color scheme with glowing black highlights that ran down her arms and legs. She zipped across the room trying to look at everything at once and asking various questions a mile a minute without giving the kids any time to explain the situation to her.

"Sparkplug." He looked up to see Optimus walk towards him. "How is our new arrival?"

"She's doing fine." Sparkplug answered. "She's a bit of a handful, its like she's running on Engex at all times."

Optimus saw Liftor jump nearly a foot into the air when Annie put her hand on his shoulder and Sureshock rushed to calm him down. "I can see that. But what about you? You've been quiet since we've gotten back."

Sparkplug grimaced and sighed. "Optimus, back in that cave I...I ran into one of the Minicons from the Exodus."

"Really? And you weren't able to save him?"

"No because he didn't need saving. Leader-1 is willingly working with the Decepticons and he's probably the reason why we crashed on this planet."

Optimus narrowed his optics. "So it wasn't an accident. It was sabotage."

"By one our own. And now there's a chance that there are more sleeper agents hidden among the crew along with the others. As if I didn't have enough to worry about." Sparkplug groaned. "Why would he do this? We've worked on that ship together, helped rally the Minicons together when Ratbat turned tail and ran like a coward when then fighting started. And yet he just turns around and tries to sell us to Megatron like we're weapons."

"That's the horrors of war Sparkplug. It brings out the worst in some people. Leader-1 is not the first one to betray his own people for self preservation, and he will not be the last." Optimus said and looked down at his partner. "You'd be surprised how many people are willing to betray everything they stood for, for a chance at getting power."

Sparkplug mulled over Prime's words in his mind for a moment. Then he asked, "So what do I do now?"

"What you have been doing all along. Save as many Minicons as you can and bring those who would do them harm to justice." Optimus replied and began to be on his way. "And try to keep them from losing themselves in this war."

The yellow Minicon exhaled deeply and crossed his arms. As the designated representative of the Minicon race on Terra, it was his job to make sure that everyone was safe and yet all he managed to do was get them stranded on a distant world, scattered to the winds with no sign of their ship and now being systematically hunted down like power ups in one of Annie's video games. Now he has to worry if the next panel they're going to find is going to be one of their people or a Decepticon. At this point, who could they trust?


	5. River of Secrets

Chapter 5-The River of Secrets

There was absolutely nothing to do on the Nemesis. Which was perfectly understandable considering it was a warship and not a cruise ship. But working under Megatron with the fear of getting your head blown off for sneezing in his presence made the job stressful. Add in the factor of living under the same roof as Starscream and you'll need a way of relax that doesn't involve shooting yourself in head. And for the Decepticons, the best way to do that was beat the crap out of each other.

Inside the rec room (yes they have a rec room) right next to the energon bar was a sparring ring where the Cons would fight each other to work out their frustrations in a civilized (for them) manner. It was also a perfect place for some to brush up on their fighting skills, something Megatron would sometimes do with either Nightshade or Soundwave. There were no riles save for the prohibition of weapons. There's a difference between beating someone up and riddling them with holes. There was little skill in that.

"Look at her, Thundercracker." Knockout said to his drinking buddy as they watched a match between Nightshade and Barricade. "Isn't she just glorious to look at?"

"Good grief is everything just appearances to you?" Thundercracker grumbled. Knockout glared at him and motioned to the fight.

"Look at her and tell me that seeing her fight isn't nothing short of magical?"

Thundercracker was looking. Nightshade was fast, unsurprising given her lithe form. Barricade was attacking her with a flurry of punches and kicks that never connected as she somehow managed to weave her body around each strike like a snake.

"Stand still!" Barricade growled.

He threw a punch forward but Nightshade kicked his arm down and then kicked his chin with the same leg. She then jumped up and did a spin kick that sent him crashing to the floor.

"Stand still? Do you think your enemies are just going to listen to you if you ask them nicely?" Nightshade scolded.

She side-stepped another punch and wrapped her arm around his, pulling herself close so that she was right in his face. Both Knockout and Thundercracker winced as she delivered a relentless amount of punches to Barricade's face that echoed loudly in the room. She finished her assault with a kick to his chest and then leaped into the air, lifting him in her arms. Nightshade wrapped her legs around his neck in a vice grip and then spun his body around so that his head was parallel to the ground. Using the momentum of their fall, she slammed his body so hard into the floor that the vibrations could be felt by everyone in the room.

"That is gonna leave a hangover." Thundercracker said.

"Told you she's magical." Knockout grinned as he took a swig of his engex. "Nightshade is probably one of the most skilled warriors that we have. Shame that such quality can't be found anywhere else."

"Beating Barricade in a fight is hardly what I call skill."

"Oh, god no." Thundercracker groaned as Starscream and Skywarp stopped by them.

"You're one to talk Starscream. You barely even fight with your hands out of the fear of scratching your paint job." Nightshade quipped. "No surprising given that you fight like a blind protoform."

"Hey, show some respect, Starscream is the greatest seeker there is!" Skywarp yelled. "He's so great that not even his sis-"

"Enough!" Starscream hissed. Skywarp realized that he almost uttered the taboo word and apologized softly.

"Well since you think so highly of yourself, maybe you can educate us in the ring, oh great leader." Nightshade smiled darkly and pointed to a secluded spot in the toom. "So how about a little match? Soundwave."

Soundwave, who was standing in the corner, stepped forward into the sparring ring. Starscream inwardly cursed as he realized what she was insinuating.

"You and Soundwave. Here in the ring. No weapons, no slag. Just your fists. How about it?"

Starscream looked at the other Cons and saw that they too wanted to see them fight. Refusing in front of so many would make him look like a coward, but he knew that Soundwave had a reputation for being brutal in a fight. Clearing his throat he stepped into the ring and flexed his wings.

"Very well, I accept your challenge, Nightshade. But don't get angry when I damage your little pet." He taunted.

As she moved to leave the area, she looked at Soundwave. "Make it hurt." She muttered before clearing the ring.

The two combatants stood across from each other, sizing one another up. Starscream waited for Soundwave to make his move, but the spymaster just stood there like a statue. Scowling, Starscream decided to make his move. With a yell he ran forward and threw a punch at his opponent, but his fist didn't meet a metal face, instead it met air and he stumbled a bit before righting himself. He spun around to see that Soundwave was now standing at his side.

Starscream growled and came at Soundwave with a flurry of punches and kick s that Soundwave easily blocked or dodged. He barely put much effort into deflecting Starscream's blows as he was gauging when the right moment was to strike. When Starscream aimed a kick at his head, Soundwave caught his leg and held it fast.

At the sidelines, Rumble and Frenzy smirked at each other. Starscream was so dead.

Soundwave palm striked Starscream's leg and sent the seeker spinning to the ground. Starscream jumped up and attacked Soundwave once more, and just like the last time, his attacks were all deflected. Nightshade looked on with a barely noticeable smile as she saw Soundwave best Starscream with little effort.

"Why won't you just give up!" Starscream shouted. Soundwave caught his fist and brought him in close.

"That is a logical suggestion. You should give up."

Soundwave land a solid punch to Starscream's face that sent him stumbling back. He didn't give him a chance to recover as he hit Starscream with a barrage of punches to his face and chest that kept him in a daze. When Starscream finally got a chance to land a punch at Soundwave, the spymaster merely stepped aside and grabbed his arm. Starscream yelped in pain as Soundwave twisted his arm and brought him to his knees.

"Submit." Soundwave intoned.

"Go to hell!" Starscream sneered.

Soundwave responded by twisting his arm until there was a sickening crack and Starscream let out a wail. Soundwave let Starscream's limp arm fall and stepped back.

"Well, it seems that Soundwave has won." Nightshade said mildly, though the smirk on her face said otherwise. "And you lost."

Starscream said nothing as he cradled his broken arm.

"Just comes to show that you aren't tough shit after all. Better luck next time, Starscream."

Knockout, who was silent for the entire fight, leaned over to Thundercracker. "Watch out for the quiet ones."

XXXXXXX

"And that is how we make energon." Wheeljack said. He had just finished explain to Annie how they made artificial energon.

"Wow. That is certainly a lot to take in." Annie noted.

She was in the Ark's energon storage room, where Wheeljack and Bulkhead were refilling the empty cubes with energon produced from electricity made from the energy gathered from solar panels that were built onto the ship outside. With energon so rare on Terra, and more and more mines being found and harvested each day, they had to resort to synthesizing energon from pre-existing power sources. It was so cool, even though the process went over Annie's head.

Wheeljack finished filling up the last energon cube and exited the room with Bulkhead and Annie, who was sitting on his shoulder.

"So, if you guys can make your own energon, why don't you have more?" Annie asked.

"Synthesizing energon is a time consuming process that probably uses up more energy than is necessary." Wheeljack explained. "It's easier to just mine raw energon and use it, though I have no idea why there is energon here in the first place."

"And you guys never thought to use another energy source?"

"Well, Jackie has been working on a way to use hephaestium to power the Ark's systems, seeing as it does wonders for you humans." Bulkhead said. Annie smiled.

"So that means that you guys to drink hepahaestium or something right?"

Bulkhead and Wheeljack gave each other worried glances.

Wheeljack had tried ingesting hephaestium once after discovering the mineral in his explorations of the mountain regions of Delpoi. He thought that if he could harness its energy producing capabilities, he might've found an alternate energy source for the Ark, saving them tons of energon for personal use. It was nightmare. His circuits felt numb and sparks were shooting out of every opening in his body. His vision was blinking in and out. And his internal systems were going out of whack. And that was from one dose. Ratchet had to strap him to the recharge slab in the med bay until the effects wore off. He made a full recovery, but he wasn't trying that stunt again.

"Let's just say that it's a work in progress." Bulkhead said.

"And there is also a rather prominent risk here." Wheeljack continued. "Hephaestium doesn't work well with our systems, and I have no idea if we can even use it to power the Ark. Nothing could happen or everything could go wrong."

Annie frowned then smiled. "Well, you can't get through life without taking a few risks, right?"

"Wrong."

Both Autobots turned to see Prowl marching towards them with his signature frown on his face. "Taking unnecessary risks will only lead to disaster for the parties involved. "

He looked at Wheeljack, who seemed unaffected by Prowl's star. "Wheeljack, bear in mind that if you are wrong, then we can risk damaging the Ark's systems beyond repair and putting ourselves at a severe disadvantage against the Decepticons."

Wheeljack sighed "I'm well aware of that Prowl."

Prowl then glared at Bulkhead. "Bulkhead, I don't think I need to remind you that under no circumstances are you to reveal the secrets of our technology to the humans. It's against protocol."

"Yes Prowl." Bulkhead grumbled.

"As long as we have an understanding." Prowl replied.

Prowl gave Annie a look, which she returned without so much as a blink. He continued down the hall with the girl glaring at his back.

"Who shit in his cornflakes?" She asked.

"Don't mind Prowl. He's just a stickler for the rules. Someone has to enforce them around here." Wheeljack said.

"Doesn't mean he has to be an ass about it though." Annie grumbled.

Of all the Autobots, Prowl seemed to be the only one who was against allowing the children access to the Ark. He seemed openly hostile to them despite not showing any outward reaction to their continued presence on the ship, and didn't even bother to hide his distaste for them. He saw them as a distraction, a liability keeping the team from focusing on their mission to fight the Decepticons and locate the Minicon refugees. It had been a tense issue between him and Optimus.

"Yo Jackie!" Jazz strolled down the hall towards the engineer and swung an arm around his shoulders. "How's it hangin'?"

"Whatever it is, Jazz no." Wheeljack said.

"But I didn't say anything."

"You don't need to. I can tell I'm not going to like it."

"Well, this is important. Teletran just detected another Minicon panel and you've just volunteered to be my partner on this mission." Jazz grinned. Wheeljack groaned.

"Jazz, I'm busy with my experiments and they-"

"Can wait. They'll be there when you get back, and Liftor can watch over things until you get back." Jazz dragged Wheeljack down the hall towards the shuttle bay, leaving Bulkhead and Annie alone.

"Well that was random." Annie commented.

"Yup." Bulkhead agreed. Then he grinned at his little companion. "You wanna do some off roading outside?"

"Hell yeah!"

XXXXXXX

Thundercracker feared few things in his career as a seeker. Why be afraid of enemies bound to the earth while he ruled the skies with his brothers and sisters. Though he was not entirely without fear; there was that time he was stuck on a moon infested with scraplets. And that time he was stuck on that planet full of green skinned giants that thought he was a toy (Slipstream got a good laugh out of that). But nothing compared to the fear of pissing Megatron off, which was ironic since his commander made a career out of doing just that.

"For the record, if Megatron finds out about this, I'm ratting you two out." Thundercracker said as he loaded another energon cube into the crate.

The seekers were hanging out at an energon mine that was still off the grid (thanks to Knockout's efforts). None of the other Cons knew of this mine, and thus it allowed Starscream to horde the energon supplies for himself and his team. Skywarp didn't care what they did, but Thundercracker was the only one who had reservations about this.

"Megatron won't know a thing, Thundercracker." Starscream said. "So long as you keep your mouth shut."

"Yeah, Soundwave and his pets won't locate us here with all this energon around us, we're safe." Skywarp said.

Thundercracker grunted. As a warrior of Vos, he was taught from birth that the seekers look after themselves. They did not adhere to any one person, even to Megatron to a certain extent. This oath of total loyalty is the only reason that he was even hanging out with these morons.

One they were finished, they exited the cave. Just as Starscream put a jammer in front of the cave entrance, his comm-unit beeped.

"What is it? I'm busy." He said rudely.

" _Too busy even for a Minicon, Starscream? Well that's a shame. And here I thought that you'd jump at a chance to have a partner of your own."_ Nightshade quipped mockingly.

"What are you talking about?" He asked.

" _Soundwave detected a panel in Europa. Since you three are already out in the field and are the closest, I figured that it'd be prudent to send your seekers to retrieve it. Give you a chance to wipe the stench of your earlier defeat off you"_

"Fine I get it, we'll go at once." Starscream grumbled and nodded to his team _._ But she was not done yet.

" _One more thing. I don't need to remind you not to draw attention to yourselves. Three jets flying over a city are less than conspicuous and might cause a panic."_

"I know damn it! Don't lecture me about protocol!"

" _Alright. Just try not to get your ass beat by that scout again, will you?"_

Nightshade signed off and Starscream let out a frustrated yell before transforming and taking to the sky with his seekers.

'When I get my Minicon, the first thing I'll do is use my new power to scrap that glitch and her silent bodyguard!' He thought angrily.

XXXXXXX

Rouen was a city in the country of Francia. A large city located by a massive river known as the River Seine, which ran through the middle of the city. Much like many of the other cities in Francia, Rouen was truly beautiful to look at, and the way the sun reflected off the river at just the right angle to make it glow was a sight to see.

"Jazz."

"Huh?" The Autobot, or rather his holomatter, turned to look over at Wheeljack.

"Can you please focus on the mission? You can sightsee another time."

"Chill out, Jackie. Nothing wrong with sneaking in a little pleasure with the business." Jazz looked out at the city and sighed blissfully. "I got to take the kids here sometime."

The two Autobots were parked on an almost empty street that was sitting right next to the large river. Both of them had their holomatter avatars activated. Jazz's avatar was a snazzy looking black man with black sunglasses on and Wheeljack's avatar was a rather unassuming middle age man who looked like he was toiling around in a mechanics shop all day long.

"So do you have a read on the panel's location?" Jazz asked.

"I think so. It's not in the city, but somewhere in the forest outside of Rouen, near the river." Wheeljack said. "It shouldn't be too far from us. We just need to stay close to the river."

"Darn it. I wanted to do a little more scouting."

"You call it scouting. I call it fooling around." Wheeljack said. "Just keep the sightseeing to a minimum, okay? There's no telling if the Cons are already on the trail."

Relax, Jackie. We'll get it. Now let's boogey, we're losing daylight."

Their avatars got into their vehicle modes and drove down the narrow streets, careful of any nearby pedestrians as they made their way to the outskirts of the city. It was going to be a long drive from there to their destination but Jazz loved a little quiet time anyway.

High above Rouen, Starscream and his team were flying at sub-sonic speeds towards the general area where the Minicon panel was situated. They had their scanners on at maximum output as they were searching for the panel's exact location.

"Any sign of our quarry?" Starscream asked.

"Nothing. The signal's faint. It might be underground." Thundercracker reported. Starscream grumbled in displeasure. He hated going underground. No room to run. No room to fly.

"Boss, I just caught sight of something you might want to see." Skywarp said.

"What is it?"

"Two little Autobots scurrying along the ground like ants." Skywarp cackled. "Can we snuff them out boss?"

"Why not? I'm liable to indulge myself in a little game of hunt the Autobot." Starscream replied. He needed to vent out some frustration anyway.

XXXXXXX

Jazz and Wheeljack were driving along the dirt path that was next to the River Seine. They

"Let's play a game." Jazz said. "Annie taught me this one. It's called I spy."

"No."

"I spy with my little eye, something green."

"Trees?" Wheeljack said.

"Ding ding! You got it!" Jazz laughed. This was just as much fun Annie said it would be! "Now you try me."

"I spy with my little eye, something blue."

"The river."

"Ding! Correct!" Wheeljack chirped, not sounding as excited as he portrayed. Jazz's optimism was tiring. "Jazz, how much farther do we have to drive to get there?"

"Not too far, just another mile or so. It shouldn't take more than a few minutes." Jazz replied. Then he spotted something coming at them from above. "Incoming!"

They split apart to avoid the two missiles that hit the spot they were just in. The ground exploded in a shower of dirt and flames as they transformed into their primary modes and took their positions. They saw a familiar red and silver jet fly towards them before it to reconfigured into an unwelcome face.

"Starscream, what a surprise to see here on this fine afternoon. I take it that your cronies are somewhere nearby, you rarely go off on your own anymore these days." Jazz said calmly, though he was already aiming his photon cannon. "You here for the scenery?"

"I don't have time for your pointless chatter Autobot. I am here to claim what is rightfully mine, and you are not going to stop me." Starscream growled.

"I didn't know that you owned another person's life." Wheeljack said.

"Everything belongs to me. The universe just doesn't know it yet." He replied and raised his arm cannons. "Kill them!"

Skywarp materialized above the duo and attacked them, but Jazz and Wheeljack jumped apart. Without as much as a word they focused on separate opponents, Jazz ran for Starscream and Thundercracker while Wheeljack danced with Skywarp.

Starscream yelped as Jazz charged at him with great speed. He fired his cannons, but the cyber-ninja easily dodge the high caliber bullets shot his way and leapt forward. He kneed the seeker hard in the face and then slammed the blunt end of his laser nunchucks on the top of his head. As Starscream crumpled to the ground dazed, Thundercracker entered the fray, displaying some measure of fighting skill that Jazz hadn't expected.

"You're pretty good." Jazz praised as he block a kick from Thundercracker. "You train a lot?"

"When you live with bots like the guys I work with, you learn a thing or two." Thundercracker grunted. He narrowly avoided a strike from Jazz's nunchaku but took a photon beam to the shoulder from his rifle.

"The same can't be said for your boss." Jazz replied and the two continued their little duel.

Wheeljack has retreated into the forest to avoid Skywarp's air raids. The missiles exploded against the trees with thunderous booms that uprooted trees and completely incinerated others. The purple seeker flew over the burning foliage and spotted the fleeing Autobot.

"Where do you think you're going?" Skywarp teleported in a flash a light in front of Wheeljack and fired his cannons. Only to have them shoot right through his target. Then Wheeljack vanished from view like static. "Huh?"

"Nowhere."

Wheeljack jumped from the tree he was standing on and landed on Skywarp's back. Taking out a small needle, he jammed it into Skywarp's shoulder and jumped off.

"You little slaghead! I'm gonna-huh?" Skywarp was trying to use his powers but found himself unable to teleport. "What's going on?"

"It's a little outlier dampener that I designed for guys like you. I didn't get a chance to test it until now, so thanks for letting me know how well I did." Wheeljack said cheekily.

"Whatever, I still got my guns. And you got slag!" Skywarp growled. But Wheeljack didn't look to worried. He merely held up his arms.

"That's what you think my less intelligent friend."

His arms shifted as if in transformation and turned into a pair of blue colored blasters that he preceded to fire at Skywarp. Skywarp cursed and took cover behind a tree as the Autobot opened fire on him.

This was Wheeljack's new innovation that he developed with Ironfist during the middle stages of the War for Cybertron. Weapons that were integrated into the user's body and could be deployed at a moment's notice with little to no time between transformations. This allowed soldiers to carry more weapons into battle and ensured that they never ran out of ammo, though the weapons did require energon to work. Bulkhead was one of the first to get the upgrades in the form of a blaster and a wrecking ball, which he still uses to this day.

Wheeljack cut off his assault and shifted one of his blasters back into his hand so he could pull out another one of his inventions-a solar energy whip. With a press of a button, Wheeljack shot a long blue energy whip from the handle and slashed it at Skywarp's hiding spot. To the seeker's horror, the whip tore through the thick bark like it was paper and hit him in the torso with enough force to send him flying into another tree.

Skywarp transformed to free himself of the whip, but was knocked out of the air by one of Wheeljack's shoulder missiles, a shrapnel rocket that exploded upon contact with Skywarp and he found himself riddled with a rain of razor sharp filaments that tore into his armor with little resistance.

"How many weapons does this guy have?!" Skywarp shouted.

Jazz was still engaged with the other two seekers and he was nowhere near getting tired. Starscream mostly kept his distance, shooting at him from afar while Thundercracker tried to gut him with his wrist blades. Jazz kicked Thundercracker towards Starscream and rushed forward. Using his face as a spring, Jazz lunged at Starscream and rammed into him. Starscream let out an undignified scream as Jazz grabbed his arm and threw him over his shoulder at Thundercracker.

"Get off me!" Starscream pushed Thundercracker off him and got to his feet. "How the hell is one Autobot kicking our afts left and right?! We out number him for god's sake!"

"Maybe Skywarp is having better luck." Thundercracker said.

Just as he said that, Skywarp went flying out of the forest covered in deep cuts and dents on his body, and crashed into Thundercracker. Starscream let out an enraged yell.

"This is embarrassing! At this rate the Autobots will get the panel before us!" He didn't have time for this slag! Then he had an idea. "Thundercracker keep them busy."

"While you do what?" Thundercracker growled.

Starscream didn't answer. He simply activated the boosters in his feet and took to the air high above the forest. He drew something from his hip compartment and looked down at the Autobots with a crazed smirk.

"From me to you Autobots with love!" Starscream threw the object at the bots and took off in the direction of the panel.

Wheeljack immediately realized what Starscream threw at them and tried to reach Jazz but there was a bright flash and a loud deafening boom before everything went dark.

XXXXXXX

The signal lead Starscream to a small, barely noticeable cave entrance near the river that he almost missed had he not been so close to the ground. One would've completely overlooked it had they not been traveling by land, as the waters around the cave were rather choppy and violent.

He landed in the surprisingly deep water and entered the cave, grimacing at how cold and wet everything was.

'Ugh, I hate this planet. If it isn't scorching hot then its frigid cold or fragging wet and damp. I can't wait to get off this rock.' He mentally grumbled.

It didn't take long for him to reach the innermost cavern that lied deeper within the cave. With barely any light from the outside world, the cavern was only illuminated by the deep river running through it and Starscream's purple optics. He scanned the area, but could not see any sign of the Minicon despite the signal being close by.

'Where is it? It has to be close by.' Starscream thought. It was small enough to be held by a human child, so locating the panel would be a little difficult is it was in a small crevice. Even still he wasn't going to give up!

Then he noticed a green glow coming from the water near the heart of the cavern. He hummed and slowly got in the water, grumbling at how he had to swim through the cold to get closer. But his distaste vanished as soon as he investigated the glow and saw the outline of a panel embedded in the rock inside the pond.

"Yes! It's mine!"

Starscream submerged himself in the water and swam for the panel. Without a second thought he fired his cannons and destroyed the rock holding the panel. He snatched up the tiny trinket and resurfaced holding it up triumphantly.

"Finally, my own Minicon!" He grinned as he noticed the familiar signal coming from it. "And it's another Decepticon agent. Wonderful."

The panel scanned Starscream's bio signature, namely his affiliation, and proceeded to awaken the Minicon within. Once the panel had reconfigured into a solid shape, Starscream got a good look at his new partner.

The Minicon had a sleek and angular body that was made for aerodynamics, and was aimed towards gaining speed with little resistance. He was red with yellow optics and a black faceplate. His body was also twitching sporadically, like he was being electrocuted constantly.

He looked up and saw Starscream's face looming over him. "Damn, you're not a pretty one to wake to are you?"

The grin on Starscream's face went away at that crass comment. "Show me respect Minicon. I am your new master."

"Yeah, yeah, so you say." He waved him off. "So, who are you again?"

"Starscream, commander of the seekers." Starscream said. Of course he got stuck with the insubordinate cur for a partner. "And you are?"

"Zapmaster's the name. And I can see that despite that ugly mug of yours, you look like a lot of fun." Zapmaster's optics glinted with an insane light. "So who are we gonna kill today?"

XXXXXXX

"…ackie…Jackie…"

"Ugh." Wheeljack groaned as he came back online. His head was ringing and his body felt like Omega Supreme just punted him across the Hydrax Plateau. "Jazz?"

"Hey buddie." Jazz smiled down at him. "You okay?"

"I feel like I just got ran over by a herd of Thunderhooves." Wheeljack replied and sat up with Jazz's help.

"Well at least you're doing better than those two." Jazz nodded his head over at the unconscious seekers not too far away from them. "They got caught in whatever it is that Starscream threw at us."

"A concussion bomb. Those things are nasty if they get you at close range." Wheeljack explained. "He just tried to flatten us without a care for his team."

"It's Starscream, he has a reputation for screwing people over. Speaking of which, where is that scratchy voiced buffoon?"

"At the panel's location. We've got to catch up to him. Who knows how long we've been offline.

They transformed and drove away from the battlefield as fast as they could. It took only a few minutes to reach the cave near the shore. Jazz, being the flashy bot that he was, sped off a slippery rock and flew into the cave. He transformed in mid-air and hit the water in a roll, coming to a stop in a crouch with his rifle drawn. Wheeljack just climbed down and walked over to him.

"Was that really necessary?" Wheeljack questioned.

"I don't know, you tell me." Jazz replied.

They cautiously walked deeper into the cave, mindful of their surroundings. Wheeljack checked the scanner and was worried when he saw that he didn't see the flashing beacon anymore.

"Jazz, I don't see the panel's signal anymore." He said.

"Slag." Jazz cursed. "We're too late."

"You've got that right, Autobot!"

A red bolt of energy shot through the air and hit Wheeljack square in the chest. He was sent flying through the air before crashing into a stalagmite. Jazz was surprised to see that he was knocked offline, into stasis lock. With only one shot!

He looked in the direction of the blast to see Starscream standing on top of a stone pillar. His right forearm had a red race car attached to it, the Minicon. His limb had transformed into a glowing red blaster that was crackling with energy.

"How do you like my new toy?" Starscream laughed. "It's a null ray. One shot will shut you down in a spark pulse. I wonder what happens when I amp up the output."

Jazz want going to let him get another shot off. He fired a grappling hook from his arm and pulled himself into the air just as Starscream fired another bolt from his null ray. He flipped in the air and fired his photon rifle, not at Starsream but at the cave ceiling.

"You aim must be lacking." Starscream laughed and was going to fire his null ray again. But he was unexpectedly knocked out of the air by a falling stalactite that jazz had been shooting at. The large stone had knocked Starscream to the ground and pinned him there, leaving him half buried underwater with his face submerged. Jazz landed on the ground and pulled out his laser nunchucks.

"You're one to talk with how badly you fight." Jazz said. He spun his nunchucks around and prepared to bash Starscream's head in when a missile flew out of the darkness and hit him in the shoulder. Jazz grunted in pain and rolled away to avoid another missile as he clutched his smoking shoulder.

"You're lucky we're loyal to you or we would've left you to drown." Thundercracker growled angrily. He and Skywarp lifted the rock off Starscream and took hold of his arms.

"Until next time Autobot." Starscream said before Skywarp teleported them out of the cave.

Jazz sighed and put his weapons away. Another Minicon lost to the Cons. Prowl was not going to let this go without a fuss, for a stone cold tactician he was also a sore loser. Turning to Wheeljack he saw that the engineer was still in stasis from the null ray and would probably stay that way for a few more hours.

"This turned out to be an eventful day." He said to himself.

XXXXXXX

"So this is the Nemesis huh? Why is everything so purple? I mean I know that it's out colors and everything with the whole purple insignia but still it's a bit pretentious. I'm amazed that you can even see in this light because my god I can barely see my own hand here…"

Starscream groaned wearily as he listened to Zapmaster drone endlessly. He was in the med bay having Knockout look the wounds he sustained in his scuffle with the Autobots. Skywarp was in the CR chamber and Thundercracker was at the bar just wanting to be left alone. Knockout smiled at his patient's discomfort.

"You certainly know how to pick them." He said.

"Shut up." Starscream hissed. Zapmaster looked up at him.

"Wait, are you telling me to shut up or him? Because I do not appreciate being insulted by a dude who got his ass beat in a cave-"

"Would you just go to-"

"Starscream."

Everyone quited upon seeing Nightshade enter the med bay. Starscream pushed Knockout away and stood up tall and proud.

"So you got a Minicon. Very good." She said with a small nod.

"Yes, well it wasn't that hard really. I even took out an Autobot with my new…partner." He had to force that last word out. "And I got him with my own two hands."

'Much more than you've ever done.' He added mentally.

"Yes, you took an Autobot out, but he'll be back. Unless you see the light fade from their eyes, then the Autobot is not dead. Wound, however, yes." Nightshade commented. "Don't flatter yourself Starscream, you act like you snuffed out Prime himself."

"B-but I fought off two Autobots and got the damn Minicon myself!"

"At the cost of knocking out your two subordinates and going off on your own." Nightshade continued. She slowly walked up to him like a predator ready to strike. "Thundercracker told me about that stunt you pulled with the concussion bomb. You left them to the Autobots' mercy, alone and undefended."

"W-well you s-see…"

"And you shouldn't be bragging considering the Autobot Jazz had managed to best you even without a Minicon and almost got you had Skywarp not come for you."

Starscream could only stammer as Nightshade verbally tore into him, each word cutting him like a scalpel. Knockout stood to the side watching the conversation with his usual grin. This was gold.

"Megatron may condone the sacrifice of soldiers but I will not." She said. She pulled out one of her black feathers and stabbed it into Starscream's shoulder before twisting it and dragging him to his knees. "Try a stunt like that again and I will toss you into the brig with every titanium bone in your body broken. I will not have you sacrificing valuable resources to cater to your inferiority complex. Are we clear?"

"Yes, c-crystal clear." Starscream whimpered.

"Good." Nightshade let him go and nodded to Knockout before walking out of the med bay.

As Starscream, seethed at that embarrassing affair, Zapmaster shoes this moment to ask a very inappropriate question.

"So…is she your EX or something?"


	6. Crawling in the Catacombs

Chapter 6-Crawling in the Catacombs

Gina Harkins was not amused. All she wanted was to just have an exciting day with her friends at some small country half way around the world. But the only thing she had done was sit on a rock with Sureshock for 20 minutes outside of the entrance to one of the most mysterious places in the world-the Precht Catacombs.

Named after the battle that had taken place within its stone walls, the Precht Catacombs was originally a large underground city that was once a part of the Ottoman Empire's expansion project during the late 1370's. Two armies, belonging to both the invading empire and the rebelling country, did battle inside those caves and after seven days and seven nights those people never came back outside. Many people had entered the cave to search the undisturbed city but they either disappeared or were scared off by some large creature. Whatever the case, it was the source of much speculation within the archaeological community.

Gina had always wanted to see those caves but never got the chance, as her dad never had the time to take her there. But now she was friends with a group of aliens who had an instant transportation portal that could literally take her anywhere in the world and back in a single day.

She had been planning to go with just Sureshock and Bumblebee, who stayed with her a lot these days as she was just a walking encyclopedia of Terran knowledge, but Ratchet had tagged along as well for reasons he had yet to explain. Which led to her current predicament, waiting for Ratchet and Bumblebee to finish whatever the hell they came here to do so she can have some fun.

"Gina, relax. Ratchet said that he won't take too long. They'll only be a moment." Sureshock said.

"Sureshock, I don't have time to relax. I am only a few feet away from one of the most amazing cities in the world and I can't even go in because Ratchet decided to do some last minute tests. The surprise is totally ruined for Bee!"

The orange guardian sighed. It amazed her at how Gina, though incredibly smart for her age, can act like a five year old when annoyed. Though she had to admit, it was one of the things she liked about the girl.

Ratchet exited the cave with Bumblebee in tow, looking at his scanner with an unusually serious expression.

"Strange, I'm still getting the readings." He muttered.

"You're sure that the scanner is not just broken?" Bumblebee said. The glare the medic gave him made him clamp his mouth shut.

"What's wrong?" Gina asked.

"According to these readings, this cave has traces of energon in it." Ratchet said.

Gina and Sureshock were shocked. Teletran didn't detect any energon in the area, and they didn't sense any of it upon arriving either.

"That is strange." Sureshock commented. Gina grinned.

"And worth investigating." She chirped.

"No, Gina, this might e serious. And the last thing I need is Prowl interrupting my work to scold me on taking humans into the field and showing that I have a heart."

"Ratchet, I have waited a long time to see these catacombs, and I am not going to let you or anyone else stop me from getting my meal ticket! Now I am going in there whether you like it or not!" Gina yelled.

The two Autobots looked down at her then at each other. Bumblebee only shrugged as if to say 'she's your protégé, you deal with her.' The medic sighed and turned to Gina.

"Fine Gina, you can some with us. But stay close and don't-"

"Touch anything, I know. I'm not Annie." The blonde girl smiled.

Ratchet had to crack a smile at that and leaned down to offer his hand to her. Gina stood in his palm and together they entered the cave, leaving Sureshock and Bumblebee alone.

"He spoils her too much." Bumblebee commented. Then he noticed Sureshock's disapproving glare and asked, "What?"

"Where were you in that conversation? You know I don't want Gina hanging around any place that the Cons might strike. And that includes energon caves."

"Come on, Ratchet only detected energon, we didn't find any. I doubt there's anything dangerous about this place save for some loose rocks." He said and walked towards the cave. "Let's go in before they leave us behind."

Sureshock huffed before following the scout into the cave. Honestly, was she the only one here with some amount of common sense?"

XXXXXXX

"Wow." Gina whispered in awe.

The interior of the cave was massive, one large cavern held up by a collection of large stone pillars. Some were natural formations, but the others were clearly carved and put in place. But what caught her attention were the large stone buildings carved into the side of the cave. It looked like a large community composed of buildings constructed in ways similar to the Grecians in a large circular area. Gina and Ratchet were only on the outskirts of this town. Even Ratchet had to admit that this was something that pleasantly surprised him.

"This is a strange way to live. With this place so deep inside this cavern, there's no way that the people here can get any sunlight, much less grow food here." He said.

"It wasn't by choice. These people were trying to escape an invading army that was too big for them to handle." Gina said, walking up to one of the stone buildings. She ran her hand along the aged rock and hummed. "It was an act of desperation that drove them down here for survival, despite the dreary conditions."

"What gets me is how they were able to build houses from this rock." Ratchet looked at the small houses. He was only a head taller than the stone abodes, and they looked very hard to damage by conventional means.

"Who knows, ancient technology is still a mystery to us. That's why I love this place." Gina smiled. Then she noticed something. "Hey, where are Bee and Sureshock?"

Ratchet looked around and found no trace of their comrades. "They must have gotten lost somewhere along the way."

"That's not good, Ratchet. It's easy to get lost down here without an escape plan and there are some animals down here large enough to give you guys a run for your money."

"Animals? What animals?" Ratchet asked, not liking this one bit. Gina cleared her throat and looked away. "Gina…"

"Well, I may have neglected to mention that there might be some Gargoyles living down here." She said softly.

"You were planning to go into a cave home to carnivorous animals with only Bumblebee as your protection?"

"Hey, Gargoyles aren't that hard to chase off. They only live in parts of the cave deeper than where we are now. And you can chase them off with bright lights or loud sounds! I had everything planned out."

"Honestly Gina, you make keeping you safe very hard for us, you know that?" he switched on his comm. "Bumblebee, it's Ratchet, do you read me?"

XXXXXXX

Bumblebee and Sureshock entered the mouth of a very large cavern. Unlike the place Gina and Ratchet were in, this cave was lit up by the glowing green crystals that were embedded in the walls, their light giving the area an eerie feeling.

"Wow, this place is creepy." Bumblebee said. Sureshock looked around worriedly.

"Bee, where are they? I thought we went down the same path as them."

"Maybe we took a wrong turn at that fork back there. Probably should've stuck close to the others." Bumblebee muttered then shrugged. "Oh well, since we're here, we can look into that energon signal we detected earlier."

"Excuse me! Did you forget that our friends are missing in a cave that could be full of large hungry beasts who like munching on little girls and old Autobots?!" Sureshock shouted.

"Sureshock, relax. Gina's a big girl who knows when to run and Ratchet is no slouch when it comes to defending himself. And we have a job to do here, so work with me okay?"

Sureshock huffed and turned away from him, making Bumblebee sigh. He knew that the Minicon was protective of Gina, but she really needed to let loose every once in a while.

"Look will it help if I call them to see how they're doing?" He asked.

"Maybe," She replied.

Bumblebee keyed his comm. To hail Ratchet but all he got was static. "Ratchet? You copy?"

"What's wrong?"

"No reply, I can't get a signal down here." He said. He looked around at the rock formations around them. "Must be the mineral composition."

"Seriously Bee. We should go find the others."

"Relax, they'll be fine. Have some faith in them." Bumblebee said. There was no point in worrying about their friends when they couldn't even find their way around a linear cave system. "Now, help me get some samples for Ratchet, will you?"

Sureshock groaned and moved to climb atop a stalagmite. She really hoped that things went well because she had a bad feeling about this place.

XXXXXXX

Ratchet hummed as he studied three deep gouges in the ground near a temple. The markings were not natural from what he could tell, something made them, something strong enough to cut through solid limestone by itself. He looked at the rest of the area and noted that the buildings here looked worse off than the rest of the city. It looked like the aftermath of a battle between Bots and Cons.

"Ratchet, what's wrong?" Gina asked.

"Gina, you said that two armies fought down here in the past, yes?" He inquired.

"Yeah, it was a massacre." She replied.

"Were they able to carry artillery weapons into the caves?"

"With how jagged the entrance to the cavern is? I doubt it." Gina noticed the troubled look on the medic's face. "What did you find out?"

"This section of the city is full of craters and claw marks that aren't present anywhere else in the city." He noted. "And if there was a large battle down here, then wouldn't there be human remains littering the area?"

"Good questions. And I don't have the slightest idea." She answered. She went deeper into the damage city, looking around at the half destroyed buildings. I imagine that something might have happened that we don't know about yet. Remember, everything people know about this place is mostly specula-oof!"

Gina tripped over something and fell face first into the ground, knocking her glasses off. Ratchet ran over to her.

"Gina, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." She felt around for her glasses and picked them back up. Gina stood on her knees and put them back on. "What did I trip over? There's barely anything he-AHHH!"

She screamed as she looked down to see a human hand, or more likely a skeletal hand, sticking out of the ground. She fell back on her haunches and scrambled back until her back hit Ratchet's foot.

"Calm down Gina, it's just a hand." He said. He shined his head lights on the ground and frowned. "I wonder what that is doing here though."

Gina looked farther up the cobblestone street and gulped. "Ratchet."

"Yes?"

She pointed ahead, and he followed her shaking finger to a rather gruesome sight. Bones, everywhere there were bones littering the ravaged street. Some were fully intact skeletons while others appeared to be smashed or shattered like splintered wood. Ratchet quietly swore.

"Primus above, what is this?"

"It's the remains of the soldiers who fought down here." Gina said, then narrowed her eyes. "Though they look really good considering they're a few centuries old."

Ratchet grunted and leaned down over the bones. A panel on his arm flipped open and he ran some diagnostic scans over the remains for a minute before studying the readings. He didn't like the results.

"Gina, these bones aren't centuries old, they're only a few months old. These people were just recently killed." He said grimly.

"What? But how is that possible?" Gina questioned. Then she noticed a piece of torn clothing near one of the bones and went to get a closer look.

It was a sleeve, from a uniform no doubt. Upon a closer look it was dark red with the insignia of a golden bird on it. The symbol of the Arcadian military that was used in the 1960s.

"This belongs to a soldier from Arcadia. And I'm guessing most of these guys are also soldiers." She was starting to regret coming here now. "Ratchet, I'm getting scared."

"Don't worry." Ratchet picked her up and placed her in the palm of his hand. "We're going to find Bumblebee and Sureshock, then-"

A loud howl cut Ratchet off and then he found himself rammed into by a large form. He held Gina close to his chest then tucked into a roll before stopping at the cave wall. His assailant let out a hiss before charging at him.

Holding Gina away from him, Ratchet shifted his arm into a laser scalpel and jammed it into the beast's neck. The animal let out a deafening howl and thrashed around, easily tossing the medic away into a building. Ratchet was careful to shield Gina from the flying debris and was quick to jump aside when the beast came charging at him. Ratchet transformed and dumped Gina into his front seat, going in reverse.

"Ratchet what is that!?" Gina asked.

He shined his head lights on their attacker to see what it was, and it wasn't anything Ratchet was expecting. It was a cybertronian, but it was large and very densely armored. Its movements were twitchy and feral, its armor was dark green, and its limbs powerful and strong. It had a face that was composed of one red visor and a split mouth full of razor sharp teeth with mandibles chittering away.

"An Insecticon." Ratchet growled.

"A what?"

"Cybertronian vermin of the highest order. Which is why this one shouldn't even be on this planet." Ratchet said. When the Insecticon let out another roar and charged at them, Ratchet revved up his engine. "Hold on Gina!"

Ratchet transformed with Gina in his hand and when the Insecticon came in close, he planted his feet on its chest and kicked it away. The Insecticon, a bruiser from its exceptional strength, growled and raised its arm, firing blaster bolts from its built-in wrist cannons.

'Definitely not natural if it has built in weaponry.' Ratchet thought. He used his body to shield Gina from the bolts and fired his rifle at the Insecticon's arm.

The bolts knocked the bruiser's arm upwards and its bolts impacted the cave ceiling and a stray bolt hit the base of a stalactite. The explosion caused the formation to crack and then begin to fall.

"Slag!" Ratchet cursed. He switched to vehicle mode and drove in reverse away from the Insecticon.

It tried to pursue them but the stalactite crashed right on top of it, killing the bruiser and spearing a hole in the ground. The impact caused the ground to rumble and give away, the unstable structure beginning to cave in.

Ratchet tried to drive away, but the ground was collapsing too quickly both Autobot and human were sent falling into the darkness.

XXXXXXX

"What's going on?" Sureshock asked as the cave began to rumble.

The cave that Bumblebee and Sureshock were in also became unstable, large boulders and stalactites began to fall from the ceiling and the scout had to snatch up Sureshock to protect her from the falling rocks.

"It's a cave-in! We've got to go!"

"But what about Gina and Ratchet? We can't leave them!" Sureshock said.

"They won't have a prayer if we get taken out too!" Bumblebee replied.

When the stone pillars began to collapse, Bumblebee took that as a sign to leave. He transformed and put the metal to the pedal, swerving to avoid the raining piles of stone that would crush him in one go.

Suddenly a large boulder crashed into the ground only inches from the rear of his alt mode and it knocked him off balance. His tires skidded across the ground as he tried to regain his traction, but he tipped over and rolled across the ground. Bumblebee barely made it past the cave entrance before he transformed into robot mode with Sureshock in his hands. They both crashed into the wall and their vision was filled with nothing but dirt and smoke.

XXXXXXX

"Ow," Gina groaned as she returned to consciousness. She hit her head on Ratchet's steering wheel and sported a small cut on her forehead. She looked out the window and saw that they were inside a cavern of some kind, far from where they were the last time. "Ratchet are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm still online." His voice sounded hoarse, not surprising considering he fell down a long way with a pile of rocks on top of him. His internal scanners noted Gina's injury. "You're injured."

"I'm fine Ratchet, it's just a scratch-hey!"

Ratchet's holomatter, a middle aged man with short yellow hair in a paramedic's uniform, manifested in the seat next to her and began dabbing rubbing alcohol he got from the dashboard into her cut, making it sting.

"Don't be a baby, I'm a medic. It's my job to make sure you're healthy." He said curtly. Gina knew better than to refute him.

"Do you know how far we fell?" She asked, hissing a bit from the stinging.

"No, but I believe that Insecticon is gone, but even still I'm worried." He said.

"Why? It's dead right?"

"Yes, but the question still remains how it came to be here in the first place, and if there are any more in this place. Insecticons are hive creatures and they never travel one. You see one and there are more not far behind."

Gina bit her lip, wincing as Ratchet slapped a bandage on her forehead. She reached for her cell phone but Ratchet stopped her.

"Don't bother, you're too far down to get a signal."

"But I have to make sure that Bee and Sureshock are okay. They have no idea that this place is crawling with those Insecticons."

"Well, my comm won't work down here,but there is another way to get their attention. If you don't mind."

Ratchet opened his door and Gina hopped out onto unsteady feet. He then transformed to robot mode, bumping his head against the cave ceiling. The cave was only a few inches smaller than him so he had to bend down a little. Ratchet pressed the Autobrand on his shoulder, making it give a little beep.

"What is that?" Gina questioned.

"A distress beacon. Similar to the emergency pulsewave that you kids activated from the escape pod. It transmits our location and distance from each other and can be detected even in places where normal comms won't work." He explained.

"So we have to wait here for them to find us?"

Ratchet transformed and popped open his door. "Who says we have to wait?"

XXXXXXX

Bumblebee was the first to come back online, and the first thing he noticed was that he was stuck in robot mode with a heavy weight on his chest. Craning his head he saw that a large boulder was sitting on his chest. He raised his arms and pushed the boulder off him with a grunt. Coughing a bit from the dust in his intakes, Bumblebee looked around for Sureshock.

"Sureshock, where are you?" He called out. He began to grow worried when he didn't get a reply. "Sureshock, answer me! Are you online?"

"B-Bee…"

His audio receptors honed in on the faint sound and he crawled over to a pile of rocks, where he saw a small orange hand sticking out. He cursed and quickly dug her out and cradled her in his hands. She was still in one piece, but her left side was partially crushed and he could see that he left arm and leg were out of commission, but right now he was just glad that she was okay.

"Sureshock, how are you feeling?" He asked. Sureshock's eyes dimmed a bit before she groaned.

"I'm not in too much pain. I shut off the neural circuits in my arm and leg when the rocks came down on me. " She said weakly. "Problem is that I can't really move all that much."

"Don't try it, I'll find Ratchet and Gina. He can help you." Bumblebee said, trying to stay calm. This was not how he wanted this trip to go. He really hoped the others were okay. Then he noticed that his Autobrand was beeping. "Huh?"

"What is it?"

"My Autobrand is going off. Ratchet must be sending out a distress signal, which means we can find him!" The scout smiled and looked down at the Minicon. "Don't worry Sureshock, you're going to be alright."

He looked down the tunnel and saw that aside from a few boulders in the way, it was still intact. He glanced down at Sureshock and saw that she was still. She wasn't dead, only in stasis lock, but that meant that her injuries were more severe than he thought. He needed to get her out of here before something else happened.

His attention was pulled from the Minicon to his Autobrand, which was emitting a low beeping that was only audible to Autobot audio receptors. It didn't take long for him to know what it meant.

"Ratchet and Gina are okay! Thank Primus!" He sighed. Then he frowned. "Bu I have to get you out of here, Sureshock. You may not like it but Gina will kill me if anything happened to you."

He slowly transformed, depositing Sureshock into his back seat as he shifted form and began driving down the tunnel. Bumblebee knew he wasn't going to be long but he hoped that his friends were safe.

XXXXXXX

"I've already activated the beacon, now all we have to do is try to stay put until Bumblebee and Sureshock can find us." Ratchet said. He drove down the tunnel to get as near to their original position as possible to make it easier for the scout to find them. "It's not much but it's the best chance we have at getting out of here."

"As long as they're safe, I can rest easy." Gina said, leaning her head on her seat. "Hey Ratchet, what exactly are Insecticons?"

"Well, to put it simply, they're vermin. They've lived in Cybertron's underground network for most of their lives until the War, in which Cyberton's degrading ecosystem forced them onto the surface and led them to attack everyone in sight." He informed her. "The Decepticons weaponized them and turned them into living weapons under control of Decepticon High Command."

"Megatron. But if they're native to Cybertron, what's one doing on Terra?"

"That is a good question. One that I have no answer to, like the existence of energon on this planet as well. All that I can say is that seeing one Insecticon here does not bode well for us."

"Why? We took care of that one…kinda."

"Insecticons work as a hive mind under an alpha. They never travel alone, if you see one then more are not far behind."

Dread filled Gina's heart. "Oh god you don't mean that more will come?"

"I'm afraid so, Gina. And judging from the bones we found earlier, they've been here a long time."

Gina groaned and slumped against his leg. She came here to do some historical research and to have a good time with her friends, but instead she got them all trapped in a cave inhabited by carnivorous giant metal bugs literally bred to kill. What a day this turned out to be.

Then she made another mistake. "At least is can't get any worse."

No sooner than she had said that Ratchet jumped forward and scooped her up into his arms as he ducked into a roll to avoid a bolt of energy that tore into the spot he was just sitting in. He got to his feet and drew his blaster pistol, ready to run if need be.

"I was hoping to get you and the human in one shot. But it seems I got a bit cocky."

A large shape landed on the ground before them, kicking up dust in its wake. Gina did a double take as she studied their attacker. It was a giant rhinoceros beetle, but it had light green armor and a long horn that looked tougher than steel. It was another Insecticon.

"Who are you?" Ratchet asked, not lowering his weapon.

"You may call me Venom, the alpha of this hive of mine." Venom said and stalked towards his prey. "But for now, you may know me as your executioner."

XXXXXXX

Bumblebee let out a loud grunt as he pushed through the wall of boulders with his shoulders. He tripped and fell to the ground, but got to his knees and took a deep breath. It was almost sundown, they had been in that cave far longer than they had intended.

"Bee? What's with all the noise?" Sureshock answered weakly.

"We've made it out, Sureshock. It took me a while but I managed to dig us out." He said.

"But what about…?"

"don't worry I'm going to get the others. Ratchet sent me his distress signal so he and Gina should be alri-"

A loud explosion rumbled inside the cave, surprising Bumblebee and Sureshock. Another one went off once more, followed by a loud bestial howl that echoed within the tunnel.

"That doesn't sound good." Sureshock noted. Bumblebee frowned and placed her body behind the boulder she and Gina sat on earlier. "What are you doing?"

"My job." Bumblebee said and ran back into the cave.

XXXXXXX

"Ratchet!" Gina yelled as she saw the medic get thrown into the stone wall. She was hiding in a corner watching Ratchet battle the fearsome Insecticon warrior and fail.

Ratchet grunted and rolled to the side to avoid getting impaled by Venom's large horn. The Insecticon's chittering mandibles let out a spine tingling sound as he laughed.

"I was hoping to get a taste of the yellow one and his friend, but then I saw you two. It's been so long since I ate a human." Venom said, slowly circling Ratchet. "I see you've found my leftovers."

"Yes, we have." Ratchet growled.

"Humans taste good, but their bones are a nuisance. The best they're good for is picking the flesh from my teeth. But now here you are, an Autobot for me to feast on."

"Oh shut up. I've faced more horrific things in my career than a stranded Insecticon with a taste for organics." The medic scoffed. "I'm not afraid of you!"

"Oh you will be."

Venom let out a hiss and lunged at Ratchet. He shifted his arm panels to deploy his laser scalpel and jumped aside to avoid Venom's charge. He then grabbed onto his back panels and jammed the scalpel into the area between the armor. Venom roared in pain as the medical instrument used to save lives was used to cause him excruciating pain. Ratchet made an effort to cause as much damage as he could to Venom's internal circuitry before he was thrown off the Insecticon's back.

"V-very good," venom grunted. He shifted into his robot mode, a large mech with lighter green armor and two beady red eyes with a mouth plate that slid back to reveal a grinning mouth of bloodstained teeth. "That hurt, I like pain. It makes me feel more hungry!"

He rushed forward and punched Ratchet in the face. He followed through with a kick to his torso and slammed his fists down on his shoulders. Venom then gripped the medic by the neck and threw the Autobot three feet across the cavern into the ground.

"Get up Ratchet!" Gina shouted. Her heart was pounding as she saw her friend get thrashed around like a ragdoll.

Ratchet was trying to get up, but that pummeling had his joints screaming in pain. He looked up to see Venom stalking towards him, teeth grinding together in a way that assaulted his audio receptors. The look in his red eyes, the way he grinned, Ratchet could honestly say that this bot-no this beast- was one of the most unnerving individuals he had ever met.

"You put up a valiant effort, but you're no warrior. Now die like the prey you are!" Venom grabbed Ratchet and opened his mouth wide to bite into him when a rock hit the side of his head. "Huh?"

Venom looked to where the rock had come from and saw Gina standing not too far from them. She was trembling in fear but that didn't stop her from throwing another stone at his face. The tiny stones pelted his armor like tiny snowflakes, barely anything worth noting, but the fact that this tiny creature had the gall to attack him like she was his equal had angered Venom, and when he was angry, people died.

"You filthy little animal!" He roared. "I'LL KILL YOU JUST LIKE THE REST OF YOUR PATHETIC BRETHEREN!"

"GINA!" Ratchet tried to stop Venom, but the Insecticon kicked him away and advanced on the scared human child. Seeing the terrifying Con advance on her Gina screamed and shut her eyes.

There was a loud bang and then the sound of screams. Gina opened her eyes when she realized she was still alive and looked up to see that Venom was sporting a large hole in his shoulder joint. His arm was hanging by only a few cables, and he was wailing in pain. Ratchet looked up at the hole and saw Bumblebee looking down at them with a grin.

"Hey guys!"

"Bee/Bumblebee!" Gina and Ratchet exclaimed.

Bumblebee dropped a rescue line down into the hole. "Come on, grab the rope before fangle fangs gets his act together."

Ratchet snatched up Gina and grabbed the rope. The scout began towing them up on the line, but their rescue was halted when an enraged Venom took on his beast mode and flew up to attack the duo.

"YOU WILL NOT ESCAPE ME! NO ONE ENTERS MY CAVE AND LIVES TO SEE THE SUN!"

He prepared to fire a photon blast from his horn, but before he could shoot them down, an EMP grenade thrown down from above hit him square in the face and enveloped his body in EMP waves that caused his body to seize up and fall to the ground.

"You're gonna have to wait for another meal bozo!" Bumblebee shouted.

Venom reverted back to his robot mode and glared up at the Autobots as they made their escape. He couldn't move, and he couldn't even feel his limbs, but the hatred in his eyes was very evident. Using what little he had, Venom let out a roar that echoed throughout the cave and into the outside world for all to hear.

When his rage subsided, all that was left was the silence.

XXXXXXX

Gina sat next to Sureshock as Ratchet worked on her. Bumblebee stood guard near the cave entrance in case any unwanted visitors decided to get some fresh air.

"How is she Ratchet?" Gina asked softly. Ratchet ran his arc welder along Sureshock's torso and damaged arm to seal the open wounds before he glanced at her.

"She's not in any immediate danger, if you're worried about that. She'll need some time with Longarm for a few days before she can be up and about." He said. "But otherwise, she'll make a full recovery."

"That's good." Gina muttered before she began sniffling. Both Ratchet and Bumblebee came to her side.

"Gina what's wrong? Sureshock's going to be fine." Bumblebee said.

"I know, it's just…it's just that none of this would've happened if I want so damn persistent in going into that stupid cave. I almost got us all killed!" She cried.

"Gina, look at me." Ratchet said. When the girl looked up at him, he gave her a soft smile. "None of this is your fault. You couldn't have predicted this. What matters is that we're all safe and sound."

"Yeah, there's no need to cry. Just be glad we made it out of there. And think of this as a reference to be more careful in the future. Okay?" Bumblebee asked.

"O-okay." Gina replied and gave them a watery smile.

Ratchet looked up at the cave entrance and walked over to it. Even though they made it out, there was still no guarantee that more people won't make the same mistake they made today. It didn't take long to find a solution.

"Bumblebee, can you hand me your grenade?"

Gina and Bumblebee watched as Ratchet tossed the explosive device into the cave and detonated it, causing a shower of rocks to cover the entrance. The ruins of Precht were sealed off from the rest of the world forever.

"Now no one will meet the same fate as those poor souls inside." Ratchet said solemnly. "Let's go home."

"I hear you on that."

Bumblebee and Ratchet transformed. Gina helped Sureshock into Ratchet before hopping in and they drove off into the forest back home.

And inside the dark depths of the cave, Venom sat in the darkness mumbling to himself, his body still twitching from the aftereffects of the EMP wave.

"I'll kill you doctor, you and your human pet. No one gets away with insulting an Insecticon's honor! NO ONE!"


	7. Divide and Conquer

Chapter 7-Divide and Conquer

It was a normal day at Hearstgrace middle school, and the school day was almost over. Gina and Annie were spending their last period in Ms. Master's history class. They sat next to each other, one listening to the teacher's lecture, while the other was trying valiantly not to fall asleep. The blonde took it upon herself to keep the girl awake so she wouldn't get in trouble but it was getting tiresome.

"Though little historical records can be found of human society during the Void Century, historians have managed to find evidence of religious ceremonies practiced by the remnants of the Arians during this tumulus time. Depictions of two sister goddesses were most evident, each goddess representing the sun and moon. Translations of the Arian language suggest that these two deities were the matron deities of two major clans, the Lumen and the Umbra." Ms. Masters explained. "Though the names of these goddesses were lost during the Void Century, it is known that the Arians saw them as their creators and protectors. They were said to command host of angels made of stone with crystal hearts that roamed the world, enforcing the word of the twin goddesses. Such beliefs…"

Annie tried to keep her eyes open. She really did, but sitting still through such long periods was not her forte. Her eyes were beginning to drop once again when she felt Gina nudge her in the side.

"Come on, Annie, focus." Gina whispered. She was getting tired of waking her friend up every two minutes. Didn't this girl get any sleep?

"Sorry." Annie said honestly. She didn't like annoying Gina, but she was an active girl. Stuff like this bored the ever loving crap out of her.

She was already drifting off again when the school bell rang, making her jump up in her seat. The other kids snickered but quickly shut up when she glared at them.

"Alright kids, class dismissed. And don't forget to read up on Arian culture for tomorrow's pop quiz. Its only hard if you don't study for it."

Gina and Annie were the first ones out of the room and they were glad that the day was over, but for different reasons.

"God, that was torture. Why is history always so boring to listen to?" Annie yawned as she stretched her stiff limbs.

"It's not boring, Annie. You're just too lazy to pay attention." Gina replied.

"Good point." Annie said.

"And you should be more attentive when we get those lessons, you never know if it might have some relevance to the Minicons." Gina said.

They continued to talk all the way to Annie's locker, where the girl proceeded to dump all her books inside and took out the alt-formed Grindor. But before they could leave, someone cut into their conversation.

"Well, well, fancy seeing you here Gina Hawkins."

Gina's eye twitched at the nickname, a title only one person knew. "Hello, Penny."

Penelope Pincer, known as Penny to her peers, was Gina's self-proclaimed rival in the fields of science and history. She was only a few months older than Gina, and had dark skin with amber gold eyes and long black hair with an orange streak running down the middle.

Penny came from a family who was born into money, though she only used her influence for the pursuit of science. She was the only person who could match Gina in terms of intelligence and had the ability to make the blonde act like an angry five year old protecting her toys.

"What do you want, Penny. It's been a long day and I am not in the mood for your crap." Gina growled.

"What I can't say hello to my best friend in the whole wide world?" Penny said in faux sadness.

"I'm not your best friend. We're not even friends in the general definition of the term, Penny. And where's your boyfriend? I thought you'd never let him out of your sight?"

"He's not my boyfriend!" Penny snapped before calming herself. "I mean, Kevin is not with us at the moment. He's at basketball practice."

'Nice save.' Annie thought as she watched the pissing contest between the two nerds. It was amusing to see two people smarter than her act like two male lions trying to mark their territory.

Penny eyed the high tech looking skateboard in Annie's hands, and thought back to the orange moped Gina had ridden to school. She hadn't seen those things before.

"I couldn't help but notice that you and Annie are sporting some very nice rides. What happened to your old ones?" She asked.

Gina smirked a bit. She wanted to badly to gloat to Penny that she made first contact with an alien race and was actually friends with some of them, but of course she had to keep the Autobots a secret. The biggest one up on her rival and she couldn't say a word.

"Well, since Annie somehow managed to destroy my moped, Darren's bike and her skateboard," She ignored the 'Hey!" given from Annie. "I had to rebuild them, so I gave them a little upgrade. Added in some special features."

"Well you didn't do a very good job did you?" Penny commented. "I mean really, orange was the best color you hose for your moped? I knew you had bad eye sight, but that doesn't mean you're color blind."

"Listen you-"

"Penny, stop antagonizing our friends."

Another one of their friends appeared behind Penny, who snapped her mouth shut and tried to look innocent. His name was Kevin, and he was a tall boy with dark skin, a lightly muscled figure and long black hair tied into braids. Kevin was Darren's good friend from 8th grade, and was by extension a friend of Gina and Annie.

"Hey Kevin." Annie greeted him with a fist bump.

"Annie, Gina." Kevin smiled. He turned to Penny. "You aren't bothering them are you?"

"No! I'm shocked and appalled that you would think of such a thing." Annie and Gina rolled their eyes. "I would never go to such great lengths to insult my best friends."

"Right, I'm so sorry." Kevin said, not convinced. He picked up his gym bag and nodded to the two girls. "Well, I just got done with basketball practice, so if you're ready to go, Penny…"

"Okay, just give me a few more minutes." She said. Kevin bade Annie and Gina goodbye and as soon as Kevin was out of earshot, she glared at them. "If any of you squeal on me, you better not look up at your ceiling when you go to sleep tonight." Penny turned her back on them. "Good day, Harpy."

"Good day, Pincher."

Penny and Gina walked away from each other, neither girl taking their eyes off the other. Annie stood in the middle of the exchange with an exasperated expression on her face and made her way to the entrance.

"What…was that?" Grindor asked.

"Two nerds marking their territory Grindor, nothing to worry about."

XXXXXXX

Prowl drove through the narrow cobblestone streets in the heart of Greecia, working his way to the source of an energon signal Ratchet had detected. He hated navigating through this maze, the streets were too narrow and the traffic was atrocious even for him, and he was posing as an officer of the law. But he was the only one on stand-by and it wasn't much to be worried about.

"Prooooowwwwlll. I'm bored," cried the Minicon riding beside him. "Entertain me."

Prowl sighed. His partner for the time was Tracer, the Minicon the kids had retrieved from Prague. She was a large femme, a head taller than the children at least, and had burnt orange armor with bright yellow optics. Her chosen alt mode was a motorcycle and her holomatter was a teenage girl with a cockney accent. Fitting considering she acted like a human adolescent.

He had thought that Bumblebee was the most annoyingly optimistic bot on the team, but Tracer took it to another level. She couldn't stay in one place too long and it drove Ratchet and Ironhide absolutely crazy. Nevermind the fact that Gina actually got her a phone for reasons only they know.

'How did I get stuck with her?' He thought as he turned another corner. 'I didn't even say she could come. Ratchet just turned the other way when she ran into the ground bridge.'

"Prowl-"

"Whining isn't going to make this night go by any faster. You should've held back to learn what you were getting yourself into." He said.

"But I was boooorrreeeddd!"

"You're always bored," Prowl replied blandly. "Now shut up and focus."

Tracer grunted and followed him down the street. They drove through the city towards the very edge, where the buildings were older and there were less people around. The energon trail led them to a courtyard that had bulldozers and other construction equipment lying around.

Tracer was about to ask what all this was but Prowl beat her to it. "It's an excavation site. This land is full of them. Humans dig around for what was left of cultures long lost."

Making sure that there were no humans around, Prowl transformed and walked onto the soft dirt of the site. He ran his scanner over the ground and saw the indicator go green.

"What's the verdict, Prowler?" Tracer asked.

"The humans hit an engeron vein and they didn't even realize it." Prowl said as he walked around. He frowned at the readings he got. "There isn't even enough to last us a more than a day."

Tracer hummed and transformed into her robot mode, flexing her lithe frame as she strolled around looking at all the new things she set her eyes on. She rarely had the luxury of exploring this world in her natural form it was always done through the eyes of a false manifestation. So much to see, and so little time to see it.

She walked over to what looked like an old mural depicting a human warrior clad in golden armor holding aloft some blue object that he was obviously revering. She hummed and took out her phone, a gift from the children that, unknown to her, was meant to keep her occupied and out of trouble with the Autobots. The device was connected to her neural pathways and with a simple thought she took a picture of the beautiful painting.

"Another one for the scrapbook." Tracer smiled, giggling at the word 'scrapbook'. Then she noticed something. "Uh, Prowl?"

"Yes?"

"Does this look familiar to you?"

Prowl sighed and stood up, walking over to the Minicon. "Tracer, I have work to and if you aren't going to be…"

He trailed off as he got a good look at the mural. In the warrior's hand, surrounded by a halo of light to emphasize its holy importance, was the hexagonal form of a Minicon panel.

"What were you going to say? Helpful?" Tracer grinned. "I think I was very helpful in this instance, wasn't I?"

Prowl moved to study the painting further but an unexpected voice sent him on alert.

"Look at what Barricade found. An Autobot and a Minicon, slumming it out in the dirt like the worms they are."

Prowl and Tracer turned around and saw Barricade standing by the stone pillars.

"Barricade didn't think you were one to sneak onto human property at the dead of night. From one cop to another, that's going to go on your permanent record."

"You're one to talk." Prowl raised his blaster rifle. He hoped that this didn't turn into a battle, as any noises they made was sure to attract human attention.

"Who's this lunk-head? His face looks like it was dunked in a tank full of half-starved Scraplets." Tracer said.

"You'll regret saying that to your betters, little Minicon. Ravage!"

A black feline robot sprang out from the darkness at Tracer, knocking her down into a dirt pit. Ravage, Soundwave's black and grey Minicon with a non-humanoid robot mode, bit and scratched at Tracer while hissing out mechanical growls. Tracer cursed and weaved around Ravage's sharp claws and jumped on his back, trying to wrangle him into submission.

Barricade ran forward and spin-kicked Prowl, knocking him down. Prowl fired his rifle and hit the Con in the shoulder, knocking off pieces of his armor. Barricade didn't so much as flinch as he took out his gyro blades and swung them around with enough skill not to hurt his hands with the razor thin blades.

Tracer and Ravage were still fighting, though it was more of a struggle than a duel. Ravage did his best to try to dislodge the femme off his back but she held fast. Tracer deployed a titanium blade from her wrist and stabbed it into his abdomen.

"Gah! Get off me wench!" Ravage growled.

"Holy slag, you can talk?" Tracer exclaimed.

Ravage let out a very nasty curse and bumped her off. As she went to the ground, Ravage fired two missiles from the pods on his waist, forcing her to dodge the projectiles.

Meanwhile Prowl and Barricade were still battling, with the tactician trying not to get his face torn off by the Con's spinning blades. Barricade managed to get a glancing blow off his chest but Prowl retaliated with an axe-kick onto his shoulder that jarred him momentarily. But Barricade merely gave him a savage grin and slammed his blades into Prowl's torso with enough for to send him flying. Tracer and Ravage had to cut their fight short to avoid Prowl's body crashing into the mural, shattering the stone like glass.

"Hope that pretty painting wasn't important, Praxian savage." Barricade laughed. He moved to attack the downed Autobot but was caught off guard when a laser bolt hit him square in the eyes. "Ow!"

"Suck on some Minicon firepower you cog sucking slaghead!" Tracer shouted. She was firing her wrist cannons at a rapid pace, ignoring the potential overheating she was causing her weapons.

Barricade shut his eyes to avoid getting them blown out and stumbled back. He shook his head and signaled Ravage to retreat.

"My work is done here Autobot, hope you're pretty pictures weren't important." Barricade growled before transforming to his alt mode and driving away. Ravage gave Tracer a dirty look and ran into the shadows with speed that rivaled a cheetah.

Once they were gone, Tracer ran over to Prowl. "Prowler, you okay?"

"Ugh, don't call me that." He groaned. He hissed at the deep gouges made in his armor and sat up. Then he noticed that he was sitting on the remains of the mural. "Of course. My job couldn't be easy for one night, couldn't it?"

"No worries, Prowler." Tracer chirped. She flip out her phone and showed him the photo she took. "Recon, Tracer-style."

XXXXXXX

"It really is a stasis panel." Optimus intoned. "We were lucky that Tracer was able to catch this before Barricade's attack."

The Autobots were gathered in the command center with the kids. Gina had enlarged the photo and displayed it on the big screen.

"What is a Spartan warrior doing with a Minicon panel?" Annie asked.

"They probably thought it was a relic from the gods. Remember, the panels have been scattered across the planet for centuries, someone was bound to find them." Sparkplug said.

"The fresco was probably depicting the panel as some blessed relic that granted them total victory. The Spartans were known for being really good at the game of war." Darren said. High Wire whistled.

"Very eloquently put." He noted.

"See, Prowler? You were lucky you trashed the mural." Tracer grinned. Prowl gave her a look, but Arcee spoke up.

"She's right. How else will the Cons know where to find it?" She said.

"With the internet." Gina said. She typed in something on her laptop. "Just search the panel's image online and cross reference it with Grecian artifacts and boom..." She brought up an image and had Teletran enlarge it. "There it is. It's in a museum in Roma."

"The real deal?" Annie asked. Gina nodded.

"Yup. It's in an exhibit on the third floor next to the Grecian artifacts."

"So, we know where it is. Great," Sureshock nodded. Then she posed the real question. "So how do we get it?"

That made everyone pause. They all came to the same conclusion-they would have to steal the panel from the museum. And the thought made Annie grin like a madwoman.

"If we are to liberate the Minicon from the panel, then we must confiscate the panel from the museum." Optimus said.

"Confiscate sounds like a nicer word for steal." Annie grinned.

"And that's illegal." Darren pointed out.

"While I do not wish to break human law, I doubt that the Decepticons will be as understanding, or as quiet." Prime replied. "We must act covertly."

"Okay, but how are you going to get in? You guys are half the size of an apartment building and there are guards and security cameras." Darren said.

"No worries, we can go in with the Minicon and swipe the panel ourselves!" Annie suggested."

"Out of the question." Arcee said. "The last thing we need is making you three criminals."

"It may be our best option Arcee." Optimus began formulating a plan. "The children can go in and retrieve the panel themselves."

"And if they get caught?" Bulkhead asked. He wasn't very crazy about this idea either.

"Better us than one of the Minicons." Gina added.

"Guys, the longer we sit here debating, the more time we give the Cons to get the panel. What's our plan?" Sparkplug asked.

Optimus looked at his team. "We'll get things ready for the mission and formulate a plan to get you inside. Children, you three prepare for getting the panel out undetected and make an escape plan in case things go wrong."

With that everyone quickly went their own ways and got to work on formulating a plan to break into and steal from a museum without the kids getting a criminal record.

XXXXXXX

It was late night in Grecia when the Autobots arrived at the museum. The streets were mostly empty and few people were up and about. A team consisting of Prowl, Bumblebee, and Arcee arrived at the museum through the parking lot and quickly took their places at the entrances and exits.

"I got the front entrance covered." Prowl said.

"West side clear." Arcee reported.

"East side clear."Bumblebee said.

"Alright, let's get this started." Prowl sent a signal to Ratchet back at the Ark to send a ground bridge for the kids.

Inside the museum on the third floor, the ground bridge manifested in the massive room and the kids and their guardians walked out of it. Gina was holding Skyspy who was outfitted with some jamming equipment akin to the electronic warfare technology used by stealth bombers. High Wire was holding a replica of the panel to replace the original once they take it away.

"Prowl are we clear?" Darren asked into the little communicator he was given.

" _Yes, everything's clear in your area, but be careful. The guards regularly patrol that route."_ Prowl said.

"Then let's get to work." High Wire turned to Gina. "It's time."

Gina nodded and let Skyspy loose. It flew into the air and towards one of the security cameras. Hovering just under one, Skyspy used the tiny radio dish on its back to jam the camera's feed while it connected a power cord to hook into the camera and create a false image. In the security room, the pre-occupied guard was none the wiser as the video image flickered for only a split second before returning to normal.

"Cameras are hacked. We're in the clear." Gina announced.

The group ran deeper into the room and made their way towards the display case. Having already memorized the layout of the floor, High Wire led them to where the panel was being displayed without much hassle. He and Darren went up to the case that held the still dormant panel. Sureshock ran over to the window and switched her flashlight off and on a few times to signal they were getting down to the dirty business.

Darren's part in this was crucial. The panel was encased inside a glass casing that had pressure sensors on all four sides under the case. Should the case be lifted, the sudden shift in pressure would be detected by the sensors and the alarm would sound. Darren's job was to use his telekinesis to keep the sensors from going off until they made the switch.

Sureshock walked over to the display and used a small laser scalpel to cut away the class. High Wire got ready to lift the case and Darren focused his energy in holding down the pressure sensors near the rim of the display.

Grindor stood next to a large stone marble statue of a Spartan warrior, tapping his knuckles against the marble.

"What is it with humans and large things?" he muttered. Annie nudged him.

"Stop that, you might set something off." Annie whispered. She huffed and looked back at the others only to see that Sureshock was just getting the casing off. "Great. Can you guys hurry it up? I'm getting tense over here."

"Shut up!" Darren hissed, trying to maintain his concentration. One slip up and everything would go to hell.

"Come on Annie, why don't we check out the scenery? See how the big guys are doing?" Grindor said. "That'll calm you down."

She just grumbled as he led her over to the window. Looking down, they could see Prowl parked in the parking lot. But they could also see another police car moving in on his position, which was rather strange.

"Prowl, you've got another police car heading your way, and fast." Grindor said through the comm-unit.

" _How fast?"_ Prowl asked.

"Recklessly fast."

Prowl quickly transformed the minute he heard the sound of a car engine roaring behind him. He barely had time to spin around before Barricade came barreling into him, knocking them both to the ground. Prowl kicked him off and jumped up, positioning himself in front of the museum.

"It's past your curfew Barricade. I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to return to that cesspool you call a home." He said. Barricade chuckled.

"Barricade was never one for following the corrupt law of the land." Barricade said and drew his blades. "Now step aside and let us have the Minicon."

"No chance in-wait, us?" Prowl questioned.

"Yes, us."

Something sharp poked Prowl in the back and his whole body was suddenly and violently electrocuted. Knockout stepped back as the Autobot crumpled to the ground unconscious.

"Nightie night, Prowler." Knockout chuckled. He and Barricade stood next to each other as the other Autobots came to their partner's aid.

"Is Scalpel in position?" Barricade asked.

"Don't worry, my partner's already in. This shouldn't take too long anyway." Knockout said confidently.

XXXXXXX

"Oh slag, we've got Cons people!" Annie said.

"Please tell me you guys are almost done." Grindor said.

"We've just made the switch, it shouldn't be too long now." Sureshock said. In her hands was the panel, which she held onto tightly.

As High Wire replaced the glass, no one noticed the Mini-Con crawling along the balcony near the ceiling. His body was less humanoid than his comrades, with a spider-like form that harbored six long razor thin legs, two tiny arms, and a large head with two big orange-red eyes. Scalpel, Knockout's Minicon assistant, was silent as he stalked the ceiling and eyed the panel down below.

High Wire finally set the glass down and nodded to Darren. The boy released his telekinetic hold and breathed a sigh.

"We got it, let's get out of here and-"

Scalpel dropped in from above, pushing against the ceiling to propel himself downward faster. He landed directly in front of Sureshock and before anything could be done, he slashed at her with his spindly legs. Sureshock yelped as the sharp points cut into her arms and forced the panel from her grasp. Scalpel grabbed the panel and slashed his legs at High Wire, knocking him back into the display.

"No!" Darren exclaimed.

High Wire crashed into the case and knocked the display over, shattering the glass on the floor. In an instant the alarms began ringing. Scalpel cursed at them in cybertronian before he sped away down towards the stairs. Darren and Gina helped Sureshock up as Grindor and Annie ran after the Mini-Con.

"High Wire, follow them and don't get seen! I'll get Sureshock someplace safe." Darren said. High Wire nodded and ran after the others.

Grindor was firing his wrist cannon at Scalpel but he couldn't get a proper aim on him. Scalpel was surprisingly fast, and every time it looked like he was going to catch up to him, the Mini-Con would perform some nearly impossible maneuver to elude him and gain some distance.

"Just shoot him already!" Annie shouted.

"I'm trying not to hit the exhibits!" Grindor yelled back.

"People's lives are in danger! Screw the dinosaur bones!"

The two Minicons went down the stairs and Annie would've followed them had she not almost been knocked over by High Wire, who raced past her in his alt mode. She tripped on her feet and landed face first on the floor, knocking her head against the banister, making her black out.

Back down the stairs, Grindor jumped off the steps and rammed into Scalpel, sending them both to the ground. He grappled with the misshapen medic, who was a lot stronger than he realized.

"Unhand me you insolent fool!" Scalpel growled in cybertronian, which sounded like a series of light chirps and hisses. "I vill vear your armor as my trophy!"

"Just shut up!" Grindor yelled. High Wire jumped off the staircase banister he was doing a wheelie on and transformed, running to his partner's aid.

Scalpel, not wanting to waste any more time than he already had, wretched his torso free of Grindor's hold and lashed out with his front legs. Grindor cried out as one leg stabbed itself into his shoulder and another impaled his chest, both wounds too small to be lethal but still hurting like a bitch.

With strength betraying his wiry frame, Scalpel lifted Grindor up and threw him over at High Wire. High Wire stopped to catch his friend and Scalpel used the little time he had to retrieve the panel and run for the emergency exit.

"This is Scalpel, I have zee panel!" He called in.

Upstairs Annie groaned as she sat up. She was only out for a few minutes, but her head was aching and the damn alarms was not making things easier for her. When the ringing stopped, she sighed in relief.

"Thank you, now I'm gonna find High Wire and shove my fist up his nonexistent-"

"What are you doing here?"

Annie froze as a flashlight was shined on her and she turned around to see the security guard standing there glaring down at her. Knowing there was no way for her to escape, she could only say one thing.

"Scrap."

XXXXXXXX

When Prowl came online the first thing he heard was Arcee cursing. He grunted and lifted his head to see Arcee and Bumblebee fighting Knockout and Barricade. Neither Con nor Bot were using long range weapons, as it would cause too much noise and attract unwanted attention.

Bumblebee was grappling with Barricade, holding tightly onto his arm to keep him from sicking his gryo blades on the scout. Barricade was eying the yellow Autobot with deep hatred in his eyes, and in a great feat of strength, flipped Bumblebee over his shoulder and slammed him into the ground. Barricade pulled his arm free and prepared to cut Bumblebee in two but the scout had fired his pistol at Barricade's face, shooting a bolt into his eyes.

As Bumblebee began pummeling the half blind Barricade, Arcee was in her own little dance with the Decepticon medic. It was quite obvious that Knockout was no fighter, his awkward and slow reactions to Arcee's fast attacks were evidence of that, but he kept her at bay with his energon prod, twirling and flipping it in a flamboyant style that just screamed 'look at me!'. Arcee figured he had training from Nightshade to use that thing properly.

"You have lovely features my dear! I'd love to set up an appointment with you to see what's under the hood." Knockout cackled as he lashed out with the prod. Arcee weaved her body to avoid the electrical tip and got him in the face with a kick.

"That's not how you ask a girl on a date, Knockout. You have to take her out to dinner first!" Arcee lunged forward and hooked her legs around the prod, pulling her body back and snatching it from his hands. She then went in for a kill shot, drawing her cured energo-blades and tried to stab on into his shoulder joint. But Knockout knocked her back with his hand saw, catching her in her lower abdomen.

"Oh please sister, you should be doing that for me." Knockout began to run at her but he was caught off guard when Prowl punched him hard in the face, sending him to the ground.

"That's for the shock therapy doc." Prowl spat. He turned to Arcee. "What's the status on the children and the Minicons?"

"I don't know, they haven't called in yet." She said.

Knockout pushed himself up and rubbed his sore jaw. He was about to reach for his energon prod when he got a call from Scalpel.

"I have zee Minicon!" He declared. "You two better be ready to get me out of here. The human guards have been alerted to our presence!"

"Just what I wanted to hear." Knockout grinned. He jumped up and turned to the Autobots, giving them a two fingered salute before switching forms and driving toward the museum.

"Scrap!" Prowl and Arcee followed him to the back of the building, where Knockout was retrieving his Minicon. Once he was in, Knockout drove back out in reverse, ramming into Prowl and Arcee in his escape.

"Hey bozo, we've got our prize! Get your ass in gear and move it!"

Barricade gave Knockout an obscene hand gesture and kicked Bumblebee away from him. He fired a flash grenade at the Autobots, which exploded right in their faces and blinded them in a flash of light. When their optic sensors adjusted to the dark once again both Barricade and Knockout were gone.

"Damn, they're gone!" Bumblebee growled.

"But we can still catch them. I've got a fix on their signal." Arcee said.

"Great, let's go after-"

"Prowl, we've got a problem!" Grindor's voice rang through on the comm.

"Yes, Grindor, I know the Cons have the panel." Prowl said through gritted teeth. "We're in pursuit right now."

"No I mean us! Annie got caught by a security guard and if you don't do something, he's gonna call the police!"

Prowl sighed in annoyance and turned to his two teammates. "Alright, Arcee, Bumblebee retrieve panel back. I'll handle the situation here."

They nodded and took on their vehicle mode and raced out of the parking lot. Prowl looked back at the museum and sighed. The things he did for his team.

XXXXXXX

The guard was tapping on his desk, trying to decide what to do with the girl sitting in front of him. As well as trying to figure out how she got into the museum in the first place.

"Look, kid, if this if some kind of prank then you should know that the authorities are on their way. So are you going to tell me what are you even doing here?" He said firmly, trying to intimidate her.

Unfortunately for him, Annie was anything but intimidated. When you at the ass end of Megatron's fusion cannon seconds away from being atomatized, your fear threshold is pretty high.

"This would be a whole lot easier if you just told me what happened with the panel?"

"I was researching for my history report, lost track of time and got locked in." Annie said. It was a lame excuse full of holes but it was all she could think of that didn't involve mentioning dueling aliens outside.

"Oh? And what is your report about?" He asked, hoping to catch her off guard.

Five minutes later, Annie was knee deep into her very detailed account of the history of the Spartan nation. He was already regretting his decision as he tried to block out her motor mouth.

XXXXXXX

Knockout and Barricade raced down the street, not caring if they ran past red lights or almost hit pedestrians in their way. Not too far behind them, Bumblebee and Arcee were in pursuit and were catching up to them.

"We've got Bots on our tail!" Knockout yelled.

Barricade gave said nothing, he simply spun around so that he was driving in reverse. The panels above his headlights slid apart to reveal two missile pods. He took aim and fired four missiles at the Autobots.

"Bee!"

"On it!"

Bumblebee sped forward and released a couple of flares in front of him. They caused the missiles to explode before they could reach them. Knockout cursed while Barricade thought of another plan. He signaled his partner to follow him and swerved around a corner to drive into an alley.

The two Cons sped down the alley in single formation until they exited into a large sewer duct that was an opening for Grecia's water system. They made it as far as the grates before Arcee jumped out from behind them and landed on Knockout's front hood.

The Decepticon was sent flying, flipping into the air above Arcee, who took out her blasters and opened fire on his unprotected form. Knockout was riddled with blaster fire and he was forced into his robot mode as a result. He crashed into the filthy, dirty water and the panel also fell on the edge of the duct. Scalpel landed on his feet on solid ground and made his way for the panel without a second thought.

"No you don't." Arcee fired a shot at him and hit the ground in front of him, sending Scalpel flying from the explosion and into the sewer. Arcee took a look at Knockout and smiled. "Green is your color, you should definitely go with that."

Knockout looked down and gave a rather undignified yelp as he shook the seaweed from his arms, grimacing at the foul stench that clung to him.

"How dare you mock me! It took me hours to wax my finish and you ruined it!"

"To be fair, your paint job was fading a bit anyway. You're probably just getting old."

Knockout growled and took out his energon prod, swearing loudly as he charged at her.

Bumblebee and Barricade were engaged in brutal physical combat. Barricade was wailing on the scout with his sharp clawed hands, punching and scratching at him without any sign of letting up. Bumblebee held his arms up to protect his face and waited for Barricade to dish out another punch before reaching out to grab his extended arm.

Using what he learned from training with Jazz, Bumblebee spun his body around to get closer to Barricade and elbowed him in the face. He smiled when he heard the sound of metal cracking from the blow.

"Agh! Why is it always Barricade's face!" He grunted.

Knockout was not having much luck himself. Arcee parried his strike with the energon prod with ease, and she was landing most of her blows at places he left unprotected. He shifted his left hand into a spinning drill and tried to gore her, but she waved around his arm and stabbed on her blades into his arm. Knockout grunted in pain but could do little else as Arcee grabbed his other arm and angle the prod in his hand so that the point was aimed at him.

"Don't even-nghgghghgh!" Knockout spasmed as the prod was jammed into his neck. His body twitched violently before he fell back into the sewer water, which was going to be hell later on to clean up.

Arcee picked up the energon prod and looked at her partner. "Bee!"

He turned her way and nodded. When Barricade tried to swipe at his face, he caught his hand and pulled the Con in front of him. Arcee jumped up and threw the prod with great accuracy. Barricade didn't see it coming as it hit him in the back and shocked him as well and he went dropping like a rock.

Bumblebee was panting a bit, trying to cool his overheated systems as Arcee walked over to him.

"You okay?" She asked.

"Yeah. What about you? Did you get the panel?"

Arcee smiled and held up the tiny device in her palm. "Mission accomplished, Bee. Let's get the kids and go home."

"Sure thing." Bumblebee began to transform but stopped as something crossed his mind. "Hey. How is Prowl going to get Annie out of custody?"

XXXXXXX

Annie didn't stop talking for nearly an hour, and the guard was ready to bash his head on the desk to drown her out. She was hoping that he would've let her go by now, but she had to give him credit. Very few people aside from her brother and sister could remain sane after listening to her drone endlessly.

The guard was looking at the time; 1:30 in the morning. Where was the police? He had no idea that Buzzsaw was blocking his phone signals by wiring into the building's electrical system.

"Now I don't know about you, but I personally think that 300 is the best movie to tell about the Spartan soldiers' fight against the Arcadians. Granted Emperor Vayne looks a bit too 'fabulous' to me in that flick but hey, who am I to judge right?" She continued. "But anyway-"

"Look little lady, I didn't bring you here to give me a history lesson. I just want to know what you were doing with the display on the third floor. That artifact is practically priceless. If you had damaged it in any way, it's going on your head, minor or not."

Annie made to reply but the door opened and in walked a police officer, a tall handsome looking man with white hair and black eyes. She started feeling nervous for the first time tonight, but then she saw his badge. It was a stylized Autobrand.

"Sorry I'm late. You caught me in the middle of a speeding incident." Prowl said in a cool tone.

"Uh, n-no problem. I was just trying to get this young lady to fess up about what she was doing here in the museum so late." The guard explained.

Prowl nodded and gave Annie a critical look that was eerily similar to the one he usually gave in his natural form. "I see. Well no need to worry, this girl's parents are worried scared about her. And I'm sure they can make her confess."

"But," He was about to protest, but Prowl gave him a hard stare with his ice blue eyes that seemed to shut the man up. "Okay. Now young lady, I better not catch you in this museum again after tonight. Do you understand?"

"Oh yes sir! I've certainly learned my lesson." Annie chirped, trying to keep the stupid grin off her face. "I just hope that I didn't cause too much damage."

"You should be more worried about what your parents will do when they find out about what you did." Prowl gave the guard a nod and escorted Annie out of the office. Once they were outside the museum, Prowl's holomatter phased out and he popped open his door. "You have no idea how lucky you are."

"Actually I do. Thanks a bunch for saving my ass back there. I was running out of things to say when you came in." She said.

"It's nothing. I was just doing my job." He said as he drove into the street.

"No, I mean it. I really owe you one. You didn't have to come back for me, and I almost lost you that Minicon-"

"We didn't lose the Minicon. Arcee and Bumblebee just called in and they managed to get it back." Prowl told her. "Mission accomplished, despite complications. You guys did well out there."

"Thanks." Annie smiled.

XXXXXXX

Once the team had returned to the Ark, everyone was assembled in the Command Center as Optimus addressed them.

"Well done Autobots. You all have done well in rescuing this Minicon. And with minimal damage to." He said proudly. He looked down at the children and their guardians. "And I should congratulate you six as well. You've done a great job and went about the situation without panicking. You help is greatly appreciated."

"It was nothing." Darren smiled. Annie nudged him.

"Please, we were awesome. We handle it like pros."

"Save for the minor hiccup at the end." Gina muttered. Annie glared at her but she looked away whistling.

"Are we going to stand here talking all day or are we going to wake our sleeping beauty up?" Bulkhead asked. Optimus nodded and turned to Sparkplug.

"Sparkplug, if you will." He said.

Sparkplug picked up the panel and pressed his hand on the back of it. It read his bio-signature and began the decompression process, dematerializing from Sparkplug's hands and then reforming into a Minicon before him. The kids, who were excited to see what their new addition looked like, all leaned forward in anticipation. When the Minicon was fully formed, they certainly weren't disappointed at what they saw.

The Minicon was a femme, and a very pretty one at that. She had bright pink armor and with eyes that were a beautiful shade of light green that positively glowed. She had two wheels on her back and that suggested a two wheeled alt mode. She gathered her bearing and looked around at her surrounds, her pink lips open in awe. Then she looked at Sparkplug.

"S-Sparkplug? What's going on? Where are we?" She asked in a soft, little voice that sounded lovely.

"You're in the Ark, an Autobot ship. Don't worry, you're with friends now." He assured her. Optimus stepped forward and leaned down.

"Hello, I am Optimus Prime. Who are you?" He asked softly.

"D-va. My name is D-va." She gave him a sweet smile. "Nice to meet you all."

XXXXXXX

"Why am I constantly disappointed by my own soldiers!"

Megatron's angry bellow echoed throughout the halls of the Nemesis as he reacted to the bad news Knockout and Barricade reported. Leader-1 stood to the side watching his master give them a major dressing down, making them both tremble in fear.

"You had one job. Just one! And somehow you managed to lose to a no-name scout and a washed up cyber-ninja!" Megatron roared.

"Ahem, to be fair Megatron, they had Prowl along to and…" Knockout trailed off as Megatron growled, literally growled, at him. "Shutting up."

"How the hell can we hope to gain a foothold in this farce of a war if we cannot even gain the necessary weapons that can allow us to defeat them?!" Megatron said. "You promised to retrieve that panel Knockout, and yet the only thing you've achieved is be a liability."

"My apologies, lord Megatron." The medic said.

"And you," Megatron turned to Barricade. "What's your excuse?"

"I have none my lord, I take full responsibility for our failures. I accept whatever punishment you see fit." Barricade said honestly.

Megatron glared at the both of them before turning his back on them. "You colossal failure at the hands of those second rate Autobots is punishment enough, but do not expect me to count on you services again." Then he added. "And Knockout, refrain from washing yourself for at least a day. I want you to memorize the putrid stench of your failure in this."

"Yes, lord Megatron." They said, though Knockout sounded like he wanted to cry.

They left the bridge and once they were gone, Leader-1 spoke up. "You know, you shouldn't have let Knockout go out in the first place. He's a medic with a narcissistic streak."

"Don't start with me Leader-1." Megatron warned him. The Mini-Con raised his hands in mock surrender.

"All is not lost, my lord. There are still others out there, many of them closet Decepticons." He said. When Megatron didn't react to that, he decided to stop playing around. "And one of them may be closer to our enemies that we think."

That got Megatron's attention. "What do you mean?"

If Leader-1 had a mouth, he would've been smirking right now. "Lord Megatron, you didn't think that I infiltrated the Minicon combiner project by myself, did you? One of our own is inside the Ark as we speak, and when the time comes, they will grant us what we need for victory. That I promise you."


	8. Legacy

Chapter 8-Legacy

It was halfway through detention and Annie was busy writing her history report-again. It was a strange sight if you knew the pink haired girl, whose only favorite part of school was physical education. Not many people gave her credit, but she did care about her schoolwork-so long as it was something she cared about. Like Norse mythology.

Annie always had a fascination with the Norse tribes who inhabited the snowy wastelands of Midgard in eastern Europa. The two tribes, the Aesir and the Vanir, who warred for many years before uniting their tribes as one force to protected their homeland. The stories of gods fighting giants, world encircling serpents and Ragnarock was just the thing the thing that caught the attention of the hyperactive girl. In fact, the whole thing with the Autobots and Decepticons reminded her of those myths.

But back to her current situation, Annie had written a seven page report on the Asguardians and was supposed to submit it today, but somehow she misplaced it. Of course the teacher didn't believe her and now she was rewriting the damn thing. But she knew her report by heart at this point, and was already almost finished. Though she would rather be out off-roading with Bulkhead.

"Right on time." Annie grinned as she heard her favorite rock band blasting from the school parking lot. That was her signal to get the hell out of there.

So with the skill and stealth a ninja would be envious of, Annie snuck out of the classroom when the teacher's back was turned and ran for her locker. She quickly threw it open and pulled out Grindor, who was roused from his recharge when he was placed on the ground.

"Oh, hey Annie, what's the rush?" He asked.

"Nothing just trying to get the hell out of dodge." Annie whispered hurriedly.

She ran down the hall and practically burst through the front doors as she made her way towards Bulkhead, who popped open his door. She tossed Grindor in first before literally jumping into the front seat.

"Whoa, what's the hurry?"

"Nothing, just happy to see you." Annie lied through her teeth. She leaned back and listened to the music. "Hey, crank this up will you?"

Bulkhead did the opposite, lowering the volume until it was barely audible. "That was quick. Did detention end early?"

"Well…" she glanced out the window and cursed. She slumped back down into the seat. "Oh damn, here comes the wicked witch and she does not look happy." The teacher spotted the green SUV and marched towards it. "Step on it Bulk!"

Bulkhead grumbled but kicked it in gear, driving out of the parking lot and down the street. Once they were far enough from the school, Bulkhead spoke.

"Annie, I'm not your getaway car. You can't just cut detention like that? What would your parents say?"

"Bulk, my parents are dead, and my older sister is too busy to really give a damn about what goes on in my life." Annie said.

"Oh…uh…" Bulkhead had nothing for that. Seeing he had stumbled on a sensitive topic, Grindor entered the conversation.

"Well, don't you want to go to that uni…what it called…collage?"

"College, Grindor. And it wasn't my fault I got detention. I had a report but then I lost it. As far as I'm concerned, I'm innocent."

Bulkhead sighed and wondered if this was what Wheeljack had to deal with when they first met.

XXXXXXX

Gina was standing on a platform next to the ground bridge controls, with her laptop hooked up to the console. She was on ground bridge duty while Ratchet was busy monitoring Teletran-1. Gina had taken it upon herself to be Ratchet's little assistant whenever Longarm or Bumblebee were busy.

"Gina, I've got a request for a bridge from Bulkhead."

"On it."

She typed in a command and pressed ENTER, and the ground bridge manifested in the doorway and Bulkhead drove out. Once he let Grindor and Annie out, he transformed and followed them. And she noticed they were in a heated discussion.

"Look Annie, I'm only looking out for you. Your sister and I just don't want you going to jail." Bulkhead said.

"Ugh, you sound just like Melody. I'm not going to turn into a delinquent Bulk, so spare me the weapy speeches." Annie sighed. She tried to walk away but Bulkhead stepped in front of her.

"Annie, if you don't pay attention, then you might not get a choice at what you want to be in the future. Like me." He said. "Before the war, I was a laborer, construction. I could build stuff, I could break stuff. That's it."

"That sounds sweet. I wanna be just like you, Bulk!"

"Wha-no! I didn't have a choice in choosing my job. I only got it because I could transform into something that they wanted me for. I liked it, sure, but I never had a say in my future. But you do and I want you to still have that choice when you grow up."

Annie pursed her lips and was about to reply when Ratchet's voice spoke up.

"I've got an energon reading. It's coming from a nation called…Midgard." He said.

"Midgard? Sweet, let's go Bulk!" Annie cheered.

"I can go check it out doc, anyone else coming?" Bulkhead asked.

"Ironhide is in the same area, I'll have him wait for you two."

"You better bundle up Annie." Gina smiled. "Midgard is very cold around this time of year."

XXXXXXX

Midgard was indeed frosty, more than what Bulkhead originally thought. He and Annie, along with Grindor, had taken a ground bridge to a town in the country near Ironhide's position. Since they had to wait for Ironhide, Annie figured that their time would be best spent at a small museum.

Bulkhead didn't think that Annie would want anything to do with museum's after that debacle a few days ago, but she was more excited about seeing what the homeland of the norse had in store for them. She practically dragged his holomatter into the building and they made their way to the Norse exhibit, which was full of old stone tablets with really old carvings, paintings and worn weapons and relics that managed to survive the test of time.

They stood together in the room looking at the display with a small golden hammer sitting on a pedestal. Grindor was in his alt mode and sitting snug in the harness on Annie's back, though he could hear everything that was going on.

"So, what's so special about a tiny hammer?" Bulkhead asked. "It doesn't even look that big."

"That tiny hammer is the weapon of one of the mightiest warriors in human history. Mjolnir, the thunder hammer. Legend says that it allowed the warrior Thor to harness that power of thunder itself." Annie smiled. "Granted this is only a supposed replica, the real thing has yet to be found. If it exists."

"Hey!"

Ironhide's voice rang out in the quiet hall and people turned around to shush him quiet. Ironhide grunted at them and walked over to the trio.

"Took you long enough." Annie quipped. Ironhide glared down at her.

"Watch it kid." He said. "Ratchet just located the energy surge again. It's quite a long ways off from here."

"Then we better get a move on then." Annie chirped and made her way to the exit. Ironhide and Bulkhead glanced at each other.

"Why is she with us again?" Ironhide asked.

"Well…she did ask to come along." Bulkhead replied. He didn't want to admit that Annie had used her little girl charms to weasel her way along with them on the mission.

"Let's just get this done before the kid freezes her aft off."

The two Autobots disengaged their holomatter avatars and drove away from town into the frozen wilderness of Midgard. They had no idea of just what awaited them in that icy tundra.

XXXXXXX

On this side of the world, it was early morning in Midgard, and what a sight it was to see Midgard in the light of the early morning. The way the sun glistened off the white snow was an absolutely stunning sight. Annie was not one to get teary eyed at a sunset or something, but she did appreciate a little natural beauty every once in a while.

"Brrr, I don't know how humans can live out here." Grindor said. He was sitting in the seat next to Annie and was shivering a little. "I'm freezing here, and I'm made of metal."

"Perseverance, Grindor. The Aesir and Vanir tribes of the north didn't come this far into Midgard, but they did from time to time in the summer. Only the strong could survive out here in one of most hostile places on Terra. And the Norsemen were the strongest warriors of their age."

"You really like these guys don't you?" Bulkhead noted.

"Well, yeah. These guys embody everything I want to be. They're strong, they're fearless, they're heroes. They have power and use it to help people, like they're gods" Annie sighed and leaned against the window. "It's why I want to be an esper. So I can have the power to help people."

"Annie, you don't need powers to be a hero. Look at us, we're doing a pretty good job without fancy powers." Grindor said.

"And aren't espers discriminated against?" Bulkhead asked.

"Yeah, but I'm going to be different. I'll actually use my powers positively, and show them all that espers aren't evil. Unlike some people, I won't hide my powers and pretend to be something I'm not" She said bitterly.

Bulkhead noted her sudden change in demeanor and grew a bit concerned. He figured that it was something personal and that it wasn't any of his business.

"Word from the wise kid, you're better off without any powers." Ironhide said. "You rely on them too much and they'll konk out when you need them the most. The only thing power does is corrupt, and I'm sure that your norse heroes aren't as sqeaky clean as you think."

'Sure power corrupts, but it's still better than holding it back and doing nothing with it.' Annie thought.

It was a source of contention between her and Darren. She was annoyed that he would hide his powers and not even use them. She hated that he would act like he was normal when he could be so much more. And she really hated how he preferred to be some weak human instead of a powerful esper who would never be threatened again. Annie didn't want to be like him.

She didn't want to be weak, like her brother. She wanted to be strong. So that she won't have to feel pain anymore.

XXXXXXX

The temple of the Asguardians was a holy place in Midgardian culture. It was originally a place of worship, where the tribes of the Aesir and Vanir would ravel great lengths to offer their prayers to their pagan gods of old. A mighty structure located at the edge of a cliff, a temple that was built in a time where mother earth met father sky.

Over the centuries, humans had stopped coming there after the fall of the norse tribes. But it was still inhabited by forces nowhere near human or even human. This godly being of antiquity had any names, but the one that he had the most was Odin. His body was made of stone and crystal, which glowed with an otherworldly power, his skin was like marble and his face depicted that of a one eyed old man set in a cold expression. A human would think him to be some large statue, if not for the fact that he was moving.

Here he sat on his throne, his power washing over the land of the frozen north, his senses extended to all corners of Midgard. He sat like this for thousands of years, long after the fall of the two tribes and nothing had disturbed his rest, until now.

Odin sat up in his throne as he sensed two presences enter Midgard. They flickered into existence without warning and their appearance caught him off guard, something he did not like. He felt something familiar from them, something that stirred emotions long once forgotten in his old age. The strongest among them was rage, anger at these false beings, these fake gods who made the error of intruding upon his domain, presumably to steal his power no doubt!

"Loki," He said in a raspy voice. A tall slender form appeared next to him, his body composed of blue icy stone and white marble. His face was set in a devilishly grinning expression that belayed his inner hostility. "Find these blasphemers and eradicate them. Then bring their corpses to me. I wish to see who intrudes upon our territory."

"As you command, so it shall be done." Loki said and vanished in a flash of sliver light.

Odin sat back in his throne and breathed. Whoever chose to make the mistake of trying to imitate their likeliness will pay dearly. With their lives!

XXXXXXX

"Are we there yet?" Annie whined. The novelty of watching the snowy landscape had worn off a while ago and now she was getting bored.

"Almost, Annie." Bulkhead answered. "Don't worry, we'll get there soon. Right Ironhide?" He got no answer. "Ironhide?"

"Shh, quiet!" Ironhide hissed. He rolled to a stop and switched to robot mode, deploying his arm cannons. Bulkhead pulled to a stop next to him.

"Hide, what's wrong?" Grindor asked.

"Something's coming." He said.

"Cons?" Bulkhead inquired.

"No, something else." Ironhide replied. "Get ready Bulk, the fireworks are about to start."

Bulkhead let Annie and Grindor out and transformed. "Grindor, get Annie someplace safe."

"Will do big guy." Grindor saluted and lifted Annie onto his shoulder, jogging through to snow towards an outcropping, ignoring Annie's cries of protest.

Bulkhead and Ironhide stood back to back, weapons ready as they heard what sounded like a combination of roars mixed with high powered engines. It wasn't long after that they felt the air begin to heat up and saw an orange flash heading towards them.

"Break!" Bulkhead shouted and they jumped apart to avoid the massive fireball that crashed into the spot they were just in.

The large mass of flames sat there for a moment before coalescing into a solid form. It was unreal for the Autobots, as they weren't expecting the flames to suddenly take shape like magic, and the being that stood before them looked even more unreal.

It was humanoid, but stood in a hunchback position with a lean body frame. Its skin, if you could call it that, was like smooth stone the color of charcoal with red lines running down its arms. From its forearms downward, it wore a pair of ridiculously large red and gold gauntlets with three fingered claws that were coated in flames. Gold plating covered much of its torso, winding up around its neck and connecting to the eyeless golden bird-like mask on its face. Though the Autobots didn't know it, this creatures name was Grace.

"What the hell is that?" Ironhide asked in shock. He had never seen a creature like it in his life, and for a mech with tons of off world experience like him, that was saying something.

Bulkhead didn't know what to do, but when a blue flash flickered behind Ironhide he called out to his partner. "Ironhide watch out!"

Ironhide instinctively rolled to the side to avoid the massive lightning bolt that shot past his body and crashed next to the flaming creature. The powerful lightning bolts also solidified into a physical form, one nearly identical to Grace, but had blue armor and had electricity crackling from its claws. Its name was Glory.

Grace and Glory, the escorts of the almighty Odin and his host.

For a moment, everything was still, no one moved or even made a sound. Then Bulkhead moved his foot back a couple of centimeters and that was all that was needed to light the spark.

Grace gave a loud, croaky roar that sounded like a motorcycle engine revving up and shot at Bulkhead with amazing speed. Bulkhead barely had time to raise his blaster as Grace came down on him, swiping at his large body with its claws. Flames licked at his armor as he dodged each strike, and he returned fire with his large wrecking ball, slamming it into the creature's thin body. Grace was tossed back by the strong blow, but then its body morphed into fire and split apart, materializing behind Bulkhead. Bulkhead didn't move fast enough to avoid the attack as Grace dug its flaming claws into his back, creating deep gouges into his armor.

Bulkhead grunted in pain, but braved through it and spun around to land a heavy punch to Grace's torso. The blow was strong enough to knock some pieces of Grace's armor off its body as it was sent skidding through the snow.

Ironhide was having a bit of a harder time with his opponent. Glory was fast like lightning, its movements quick and precise, landing strikes on Ironhide before phasing into another location to deal another blow. Ironhide had already forgone using his cannons and just opted to use his heat axe, swinging and cleaving at whatever he can hit.

Grace reappeared behind Ironhide and lunged at him, only for him to spin around and cut his axe blade deep into Grace's side. The heated blade easily cut into its stony skin, which began to crack, but it was stuck fast. Grace took the initiative and grabbed onto Ironhide's arm tightly and then delivered a strong electrical shock that engulfed his entire body.

"Oh my god, they're getting their asses kicked out there!" Annie gasped. She knew the Bulkhead and Ironhide were no slouches when it came to combat, so seeing them get outmatched so easily was unnerving. "Isn't there anything we can do?"

"Like what? Those things will kill us!" Grindor said.

XXXXXXX

'"Yes! Tear them asunder, Grace and Glory, show no mercy!"

Odin's booming voice echoed throughout the chamber as he watched his warriors battle the two invaders. He was gazing into a pool of clear water, his scrying pool, which he used to see all that went on in his domain.

But still, it did not answer the question as to what these metal beings of steel and iron were. They emitted a presence that was disturbingly familiar, yet they were not like him or his brethren. So many questions and no answers!

Then he noticed something. Not too far from the battle were two smaller beings, a girl and some tiny automaton. Odin bristled, so not only had those false gods intruded upon his territory, they had also brought a mortal along as some twisted plaything? Inconceivable! Did the sins of these monsters have no end?

Odin faced the two large birds sitting by his throne. They both sported smooth crystalline skin and eyes that were literally made of gems, with lines of glowing emerald stone criss-crossing along their bodies.

"Huginn, Muninn, retrieve the mortal and make sure no harm comes to her. "

XXXXXXX

Bulkhead ducked under another flaming swipe of Grace's claws and reached out with his hand to grab at its neck. He winced as he felt its extremely hot stone skin, which burned even his thick hands. Grace, not even looking fazed at its neck being squeezed, grabbed at Bulkhead's arm and dug its flaming claws into his metal skin. The green Autobot gritted his teeth and ignored the pain and slight numbing of his arm as he tightened his grip on the creature.

Ironhide was grappling with Glory, his body twitching uncontrollably from the constant jolts that it sent through his body. A lesser Autobot would've fallen from such an assault, but Ironhide was a stubborn old fool who had been through worse injuries in his career. He grabbed at Glory's right arm and squeezed as hard as he could until he felt the stone crush under his grip.

"Alright! That's how you do it Hide!" Annie cheered.

Bulkhead was still trying to choke Grace with his hand, while Grace was slowly trying to burn his arm into molten slag. Having had enough of getting the slag beaten out of him, Bulkhead raised his free hand and slammed his fist on top of its head, dazing it. Grace lost its hold on his arm, and Bulkhead used what strength he had to crush its neck in his grasp, hearing a sickening crunch that sounded like a boulder being cut in half. Grace went limp and he let it fall to the ground.

Ironhide grabbed Glory by its arms and kicked its body so hard that the force of the kick caused its body to go flying back. And with its arms trapped by Ironhide, its limbs were torn right off at the elbow in a shower of sparkling crystals that turned into a fine mist of powder. Glory stumbled back, clearly dazed from such a drastic injury.

"That's right guys, you show them what's up!" Annie shouted as she ran out from their cover to cheer them on.

"Annie stay back!" Bulkhead said to her.

Grindor went to get her as she stood there snorting at his supposedly unneeded worry. "Oh please, Bulk. You guys' one! What else can happen out he-ahhhhh!"

"Annie!" Bulkhead yelled as a giant stone bird suddenly swooped down fromnowhere and grabbed Annie and Grindor within its talons.

"Damn!" Ironhide dropped the severed arms and raised his cannons to shoot the bird down, but a bolt of lightning hit him in the shoulder, knocking him to the ground and spilling energon into the white snow. Behind him, Glory stalked towards him, electricity lancing off its form. Ironhide cursed and fired a missile at it, blowing a hole into its torso and shattering it like glass.

Bulkhead ran over to the bird that was kidnapping his friends and raised his blaster arm to shoot it down. It wasn't too far in the air that he couldn't shoot it down, and he wasn't afraid of hurting Annie or Grindor. But he didn't notice another bird, Muninn, swoop down from behind and slice into his shoulder, bringing him to his knees. This gave Huginn enough time to get higher into the air and fly away with his brother.

"Bulkhead!"

"Annie!"

All Bulkhead could do was lay there in the energon stained snow and watch as the two birds flew off with his friends.

XXXXXXX

"Oof!"

Annie and Grindor were roughly dropped onto the cold, icy ground by the two ravens that had flew them in threw a hole in the top of the mountain fortress they took them to. Annie was helped up by Grindor and they glared up at the two birds, who were already flying away from their captives.

"Stupid turkeys, take us back right now!" She yelled at them. Obviously they didn't heed her commands and they had flown off to another part of the fortress.

"Fear not my lady. You are safe here."

"Gah! Who said that?" Grindor asked. He and Annie looked around at the chamber they were trapped in, a large cavern composed of ice and crystal. Despite it being freezing cold outside, it felt really warm within the confines of this chamber. "Show yourself!"

"Do you presume to command me machine?"

The ground shook as large footsteps neared their position and soon a large form, one nearly as tall as Bulkhead in height, entered the chamber through two large wooden doors. Annie and Grindor slowly looked up at the tall being who approached them and knew that they were in big trouble. He looked every bit the deity he presumed to be, and his very form had a number of defining features, one of them was the giant sword in his hand.

"Who are you to speak to Thor as if you were his equal?!"

XXXXXXX

The weather outside in the valley where the two Autobots were located in was getting worse by the second. The snowfall was increasing and the wind was picking up. They had taken refuge under a snowdrift that was large enough to cover the both of them as they planned their next move.

"How's your arm?" Bulkhead asked.

"It's fine, don't worry. It looks worse than it feels." Ironhide said, rolling his arm around to see if the damage was severe. The bolt had tore into his armor and just barely grazed his inner circuitry near his shoulder joint. Had his armor not been as thick, he would've had his arm blown clean off. "What about you? That thing did a number on you."

Indeed Bulkhead was in worse shape than Ironhide. Grace's attack had riddled the green Autobot's body with burns and deep gouges along his back and arm, warping the metal where its heat claws had burned through. Bulkhead was a hardy bot, so to see him so damaged after one battle against those things got Ironhide concerned.

"I'm fine, I'm more worried about Annie and Grindor. Those birds took them off to Primus knows where and we need to find them now!"

Bulkhead made to transform but Ironhide stopped him. "And how do you plan to find them? You don't even know where they are!"

"Well I'm not just going to stand around while they could be hurt or worse!" Bulkhead shouted. A hard look came over Ironhide's eyes.

"Bulkhead you will stand down. That is an order!" He yelled. "You saw how easily those monsters beat us, if they're more of them where they came from, we could be walking right into a slaughter and what will you do then? Acting recklessly is not in the best interests of either you or Annie!" his eyes softened and he put a hand on his comrade's shoulder. "We will get them back Bulk, but we need to do this the smart way. Can you calm down for me?"

Bulkhead, who was shocked silent during the exchange, nodded and took a deep breath to cool his systems. "Yea, yeah I can do that. Sorry." He looked out at the worsening weather and asked, "So what do we do now?"

"First we need to focus on what direction those birds took Annie and Grindor. Once we figure that out then we have something to go on." Ironhide said.

Bulkhead thought back to their last battle. He was out of sorts from the blindsided attack the first bird had dealt him, but he remembered that they went deeper into the valley and possibly beyond.

"I think they went north. I saw them go straight ahead before I lost sight of them."

"North, okay. Maybe I can track Grindor's signal. Hopefully the weather isn't screwing around with the scanner." Ironhide pulled out his locator and pointed it north. He was expecting the device to give him a positive reading on the Minicon's whereabouts, not for the indicator to go all the way into the red zone. Then he realized something he had forgotten. "Ah scrap."

"What is it?"

"Bulk, remember how we were tracking that energy surge Ratchet detected earlier?"

"Of course I do. What about it?"

"I just realized that those birds flew in the direction the surge was coming from."

Neither of them said anything for several minutes, until the gravity of the situation finally dawn on Bulkhead and he groaned.

"Ah scrap."

XXXXXXX

"You're Thor?" Annie said in disbelief. "B-but I thought that Thor was a human. Not…whatever the hell you are."

Indeed Thor was no human, or even mortal in the sense she understood. The being before her was like a living statue, with skin like smooth marble clad in golden armor dotted with jewels. His body was strong and lithe like some Grecian sculpture, too perfect to be made by human hands and too divine to be of this world. But while his body was humanoid, his face was like an actual Norse war helmet, lacking a mouth, but sporting eyes that were like two clear sapphires glowing with energy.

Annie's eyes trailed down to the sword in his hand. It was a masterpiece that looked as though it was forged with all the riches of the world. The long and silver, looking as though it wasn't thousands of years old and ended with a sharp point that dug into the ground where he rested it. The handle was just as beautiful, gold and jewel encrusted, with the face of an angel on the flat of the pommel, expressionless and cold, much like the warrior who carved it.

"You are correct young one, I am not the real Thor. He was a mortal to whom I had granted this hammer long ago, before this world split apart into what it is today. I adopted his name after he died, in honor of his bravery and devotion to us gods." Thor said and stood tall above them. "I have long since forgotten my original name, but you may know me as Thor, the true god of thunder!"

"Right, and I'm Mirconus Prime." Grindor said. He yelped when Thor sent a bolt of lightning from the tip of his sword at his feet.

"I did not give you permission to speak worm!"

"Hey back off Goldenrod, he's my friend!" Annie barked. Thor looked at her perplexed.

"Friend?" He echoed, as if the term was alien to him. It probably was. "You are friends with this thing? This automaton created from dark magics?"

"Yes, and he's not some machine. He's alive just like you." She replied.

"Those creatures have bewitched you, child."

Annie and Grindor froze as Odin's large form came walking into the chamber. Thor bowed his head and stepped back as his master loomed over the two captives, his aged stony face looking down at them with a critical stare from his one eye.

"Whatever spell they cast upon you must be strong if you still adhere to their commands. Such forced worship is an insult to my rule." Odin growled. Annie cleared her throat.

"Okay, listen, I am not under some spell or anything stupid like the Gandalf. Those 'gods' as you call them are my friends. And you sent those monsters to kill them!"

"They should have known better than to intrude upon my domain. Here in Midgard I am god, and I will not have outsiders try to upsurp my throne!"

"We didn't even know you even existed until just now you asshole!" Annie shouted, finally losing her temper despite her fear. "And you're no god, you're just some freaky stone monster with fancy powers. I bet you wouldn't last five seconds against Optimus Prime! How about I give him a call and have him come here so he can shove his fist up your prismatic-"

"SILENCE!" Odin boomed. He flared his power and it blasted Annie and Grindor against the rocky wall, hard enough to knock Annie out. "I will not be insulted by some petulant mortal! If you want to meet your gods so badly, then you can join them in death. Thor, send them to the inner sanctum. Let Fenris deal with them."

Grindor held onto Annie, praying to whatever god was out there that they would make it out of this in one piece even as Thor reached down to grab them.

'Bulkhead, Ironhide, please hurry.'

XXXXXXX

Bulkhead and Ironhide were driving full speed down the valley without so much as slowing down out of fear of losing control on the slippery ground. They were on a tight schedule, and every second lost was another second their friends spent in danger.

They were so focused on their mission that they failed to notice Loki monitoring them from the back of a large, red and gold serpent with a long snout harboring sharp teeth. This was another creature of the same ilk as Loki, called an Inspired.

"Inspired, go forth and eradicate the giants." Loki ordered.

The serpent growled and slithered forward in the on wings of light, moving through the snow like a snake through water. The Autobots didn't detect it until it was already upon them, crashing into the ground behind them.

"Or for the love of…!" Ironhide yelled. This was getting frustrating and it was barely noon yet!

Inspired rose out of the ground and shot at Bulkhead, jaws wide open. The green Autobots switched forms as fast as he could and met the creature head on, grabbed its jaws before it could bite into him. His feet dug into the ground as he fought against the Inspired's great strength.

"I haven't come close to death in five million years, and today sure as hell ain't going to be the day I kick the bucket!" Bulkhead grunted.

While he grappled with the Inspired, Ironhide drove around to the rear of the great serpent and transformed, jumping onto its back. He pulled out his short axe and stabbed it into its lengthy spine, putting all of his strength into each blow.

The Inspired growled and thrashed its body, tossing Bulkhead away from it and trying to dislodge Ironhide. But the old Autobot held fast, digging his fingers into the wound he made and using it as a hand hold. When it leaned down its head to swing its tail, Bulkhead ran forward and slammed his wrecking ball into its head. The green jewel on its forehead shattered and the Inspired swayed from the blow on its noggin.

Ironhide moved in from behind, leaping forward to slice his axe head into the beast's skull. The Inspired rocked side to side for a moment before falling to the ground, dead. Bulkhead whistled.

"That was easy." He said. He didn't see Loki materialize behind him, his spear raised to stab Bulkhead from behind.

But Ironhide barreled into Loki and the two went rolling along the ground. Loki kicked Ironhide off him and righted himself, twirling his spear around his body gracefully. Ironhide brandished his axe and prepped his cannons.

"Don't even think about it pretty boy." He growled.

Loki looked at Ironhide, then at Bulkhead, who was standing on his right. He carefully eyed both Autobots before charging towards Ironhide. The red Autobot fired a missile from his cannon, but Loki actually kicked the missile out of the air before it could reach him and it exploded harmlessly behind him. Bulkhead came at him like a raging bull and managed to hit him with a strong punch.

Loki skidded back from the attack and slammed his spear into the ground, sending shards of ice flying everywhere. Then with a wave of his hand the airborne shards coalesced into floating spikes that fired at the Autobots. Bulkhead and Ironhide ran through the hailstorm and charged Loki.

The three-way battle was as chaotic as it looked. Loki easily parried their attacks, using a variety of moves akin to Jazz's fighting style as he dodged and weaved through the air like a wisp of smoke. Bulkhead grabbed his head and threw him a few feet away. Of course Loki landed on his feet and ran at Bulkhead, his form phasing in and out of view.

Ironhide came at him from the side, throwing his axe, which Loki knocked away with his spear. But he didn't see the two missiles heading his way until they both hit him dead on, blasting holes into his torso and shoulder. They didn't drop him, but they did enough damage for the pair to get the upper hand.

Bulkhead tried to smash his face in with his wrecking ball but Loki stepped back to avoid the blunt weapon. But he wasn't expecting the wrecking ball to fired from Bulkhead's arm and hit him in the face, sending him to the ground.

"Ngh," Loki pushed himself up. His mask-like face was sporting a spider web crack and was leaking a fine powder from the seams. "You think you stand a chance? Odin and Thor will tear you two to pieces. Just like your worshippers."

"Worshippers? You mean Annie and Grindor? Where are they?!" Bulkhead demanded. Loki chuckled and sat on his knees.

"If they are lucky, dead. Even as we speak they are being devoured by Fenris and cleansed of the impurities you have tainted them with." Loki discreetly summoned three daggers behind Bulkhead's head and prepared to run them through his skull. "But if don't worry, you will join them soon enough."

"Just not in the way you're hoping."

Ironhide came up from behind and split Loki's head in two with his axe. The so-called god's body twitched a bit before going still and slumping. Ironhide spat on his corpse and kicked it aside.

"Cocky son of a bitch." He said. He looked at Bulkhead. "Alright, let's get a move on. We've wasted enough time fooling around with this yahoo and-Bulkhead? what are you looking at?"

Bulkhead, whose mouth hung open like his jaw lost a screw, pointed forward. Ironhide followed his finger and he too was surprised. They stood near the edge of a cliff and across a very deep chasm was a massive temple made top to bottom of crystal, and the building itself was situated under a truly massive tree that was also made of a jade-like crystal that glistened in the sunlight.

This was Yggdrasil, home of the clay guardians who have ruled Midgard for thousands of years. And the place where Annie and Grindor were being held.

XXXXXXX

When Annie came to, the first thing she noticed was that her head was pounding. The second thing she noticed was that Grindor was sitting over her shaking her.

"Annie are you okay?"

"I will be if you'll stop shaking me for a damn minute."

Grindor sat back with an apology and she pulled herself up, cursing slightly. She rubbed the back of her head and looked at her hand to see that there was some blood on it.

'I'm getting really sick of people knocking me out.' She thought. "Where are we?"

"Some inner sanctum. That Thor guy dumped us in here after you mouthed off at his boss. This place belongs to some dude named Fenris, who they said was going to be our executioner."

Annie looked around at their surroundings. They were inside some long tunnel where the walls were lined with a thick layer of crystal, which upon closer inspection was in fact Hephaestium. She could literally feel the energy coursing through the walls of this place and it was making her hair stand up. She was about to ask how they got so far in when she heard a loud howl echo throughout the tunnel.

"What was that?" she asked.

"The thing that I was trying to run from for nearly twenty minutes now." Grindor whimpered.

They looked back down the tunnel and saw a large, hulking form stalking toward them. Annie gasped. It was a large metal wolf with a humanoid upper torso and large hulking front arms, about the size of a horse, with old and worn metal plating with Nordic symbols etched into its metallic hide. The wolf was missing bits of its armor, revealing the clockwork mechanisms that composed its interior. Its eyes were alight an emerald green that zeroed in on the pair and its large mouth, full of serrated metal teeth, peeled open with a snarl.

"Oh god is that Fenris?" Annie gulped. That wasn't a mythological beast at all. It was a Golem!

"Yup. A giant robot doggie with an attitude." Grindor whimpered.

"What should we do?"

"What do you think? RUN!"

Grindor transformed and Annie jumped on him. They raced down the tunnel with Fenris in full pursuit. Grindor wrapped Annie's feet in straps and increased his speed via the small jets at his rear. Annie looked behind them and yelped as she saw that Fenris was gaining on them.

"Go faster!" She yelled.

"If I go faster you'll fall off!" He shouted back.

"If we slow down he'll tear us apart!"

It wasn't long before they saw a large door up ahead. At this point Fenris was close enough to snap at the hood of Annie's coat. She hurriedly shoved off her coat just as it began to pull on it and screamed as it lunged at her. Grindor transformed and shoved her towards the doorway before landing an uppercut to the Golem's chin, barely phasing it before planting his feet on its snout and pushing off. He went flying through the doorway and Annie shut the door closed before slamming a locking bar down to lock it. She jumped back when the door was slightly deformed for a moment and heard Fenris trying to bash down the door from the other side.

"That door won't keep him out for long." Annie said.

Grindor looked around and saw that there was one other door on the other side of the chamber. "We can head through there."

"Yeah, but we can't run from Fenris forever. And what if it's a dead end?" Annie said. She ran a hand through her hair, feeling the stress of the situation finally catching up to her. "At this rate, we'll be dead before the guys can reach us."

Grindor looked at her with an unreadable expression and pried open the door. "No, one of us will be dead."

Annie was roughly grabbed by Grindor and thrown into the other tunnel. He shut the door on her before locking it. "Grindor! What the hell are you doing?!"

"Doing my job. You can go hide while I keep that thing busy." He said. She banged on the wooden door in a vain attempt to get him to open it.

"But you'll die! That thing is too much for you!" She cried out.

"It's cool Annie. I'm fully armed and combat ready. So long as you're safe, then at least I can die happy."

"GRINDOR!"

XXXXXXX

Bulkhead and Ironhide showed their proper manners when visiting another's home by knocking on the front door…with a volley of missiles. They stormed the entrance of the temple with little regard for damaging relics and carvings thousands of years old. Gina would've been appalled.

Ironhide took point, pointing his cannons forward, while Bulkhead took the rear. They were in a large cavern that was covered in hephaestium and the energy in the air made their circuits sizzle.

"Go look for the kid and Gridndor. I got things here." Ironhide ordered.

"You sure?" Bulkhead asked. Ironhide gave him a look. "Of course you're sure. Stay safe."

"You to."

Bulkhead ran deeper into the temple, transforming to get past the small doorway. Ironhide slowly walked deeper into the chamber, weapons primed and ready for anything that came his way. He knew from his many years in service as a soldier that he was being watched, but the charged minerals around him were making his head spin.

"So you came."

He saw a tall figure enter the bright chamber and frowned upon seeing another one of those stone beings, this one looking more regal and powerful. Just what were these things?

"I should be surprised that Loki failed me, but somehow I am not. You creatures are very resilient, born of metal and immune to the passage of time." Odin said, walking towards Ironhide. "But before there was metal, there was stone, and all the metals of the world was born from the building blocks of the world."

"Are you gonna keep talking or am I going to have to make you shut up?"

"Very well then, allow me to return you to the hell you crawled from you false god!" Odin's body glowed with an ethereal power as he prepared to fight. "RETURN TO NOTHING!"

XXXXXXXX

Bulkhead drove down the hall at full speed, hoping that his friends were alright. If anything happened to Annie he would never forgive himself. He entered what appeared to be a large dining hall of some kind, and then he heard a loud cry.

"DIE MONSTER!"

Bulkhead transformed and rolled out of the way to avoid a large sword that stabbed into the ground at his feet. Then he was knocked into the wall by a large fist that socked him right in the jaw. Thor landed on the ground before him, rolling his shoulders.

"So you are the one called Bulkhead. The maiden speaks highly of you, snapping like a harpy of your praise." He said. Bulkhead glared at him.

"Where are my friends?"

Thor motioned to the door behind him. "Through there, tying to outrun my hound. I suppose that you might be able to save one of them, provided you get past me."

Bulkhead slammed his fists together. "You don't have to tell me twice!"

The two warriors paused for only a second before charging at each other, their fists clashing in the middle. And then the mountain was filled with the sounds of thunder.

XXXXXXX

Annie walked down the tunnel, her whole body feeling exhausted and lose. She was trying to keep from the tears from clouding her eyes but was failing. She was moving deeper into the inner sanctum, trying to find some way to get back to Grindor, but she knew it was near impossible. Grindor was going to die and there was nothing she could do about it.

She kept on walking as if in a daze before she exited the tunnel into a cave. But this place was much different from the previous chamber. Arcs of lightning lanced across the walls and ground, charging up the hephaestium that laced the walls. But her attention was focused on the center of the chamber.

There sitting on a stone pedestal, was a hammer. It was beautifully crafted, made of gold with a short handle and a very dense head with a yellow jewel in the center. Electricity was shooting off the hammer and being drawn to it as well, and it was floating in the air as if held there by an invisible force. This was the real thing.

"Mjolnir." Annie breathed. The weapon of Thor, the real Thor. Then she had an idea.

If this hammer was as powerful as mythology makes it, then it should be able to grant her power to help Grindor. Hell, even the Autobots! That is, if it chooses her. Those unworthy of Mjolnir were unable to even lift it, and if she wasn't worthy, then she was shit out of luck.

Annie cautiously approached the hammer, flinching from the lightning that hit the ground near her. She reached out with both hands and near the hammer, wincing in pain as the hammer sent out tiny pinpricks of electricity that speared her hands. She weathered through the pain and gripped Mjolnir with both hands.

"NNNGGHH!"

Pain, that was all she felt. The minute she touched Mjolnir electricity assaulted her body from the inside out. Bolts tore into the ground and burned holes into her clothes. Her hands were already going numb from pain but she still held on. If she gave up now, then how can she face High Wire and Sureshock later on?

The pain traveled up her arms and still she held on, gritting her teeth. She would not be the weak link, not now, not ever! She will be the one to save the day, to be the hero. And nothing was going to stop her. Not Darren, not those stone freaks and certainly not some dusty old hammer that's been plugged in too long! Finally the pain became too much for Annie to handle and she did the only thing she could in this situation.

She screamed.

XXXXXXX

Grindor crashed through the statue of Thor can hit the wall behind it. He slumped to the ground, sparks shooting from the cuts along his body. He looked up and saw Fenris barreling towards him and jumped to the side to avoid the giant beast.

Fenris had indeed broken through and the battle that followed was little more than a beating on Grindor's end. All he had on hand was his two arm cannons and a reserve of solar energy augmenting his physical abilities, though it meant little when dealing with an automaton that was constantly getting juiced up by the hephaestium in the walls.

He fired his cannons at Fenris and saw how the bullets bounced off it dense alloyed shell. It growled at him and lashed out with its bulky front arm, smacking the Minicon away with a powerful blow. He went skidding across the ground but rolled to the side to avoid its snapping jaws, leaping onto its back and pulling apart the armor on its back.

"Show me the goods!" Grindor laughed savagely. He held on tightly as the wolf jumped around to dislodge him. He ignored the groaning of his internal servo-motors in his arms as he dug into the machine's body and began pulling at what looked like a crystal heart.

Fenris felt him trying to pull out its heart and slammed its hands into the ground, channeling more energy into its body from the hephaestium. The absorbed energy danced across its armor and along Grindor to. So focused he was on disemboweling Fenris that he failed to notice his arms breaking apart until they finally shattered in a shower of energon and metal.

Fenris tossed him off and he fell limp to the ground. His eyes gazed sightlessly at the ceiling as exhaustion finally overcame him, and he didn't move even as Fenris grabbed his armless body and lifted it up. It looked into his visor as it tightened his grip on his head, slowly increasing the pressure until Grindor's visor began to crack.

'I'm sorry Annie, looks like I couldn't make it.' Grindor thought. 'But at least I know you'll be safe for now.'

Just when he resigned himself to death, something unexpected happened. A powerful lightning bolt crashed into Fenris, completely destroying his arm and setting Grindor free. The Golem looked at the sparking stump that was its arm, before another bolt hit it directly in its chest, blasting a hole through its chest. And a final bolt destroyed its head. The smoking remains fell to the ground in a heap of scrap that was barely recognizable anymore.

"Grindor!"

Grindor, just barely able to feel his body, turned his head and felt life return to his damaged form. There was Annie, alive and well, but her clothes were nearly in taters and her pale skin bore red burns all along her arms. Her hair was fluffed up and her eyes a bit bloodshot, but the most peculiar sight was the hammer in her hand. It was nearly as tall as her but she held it easily in one hand as if it weighed nothing. And was that lightning shooting from the head?

Annie ran over to Grindor and placed Mjolnir beside her before picking up Grindor's head and placing it in her lap.

"Are you alright?" She asked concerned.

"A-Annie? Is that y-you?" He asked in a distorted voice. His voice box was a bit damaged and it hurt a bit to speak.

"Yeah, it's me. I came back." Annie said, smiling. Grindor looked at the remains of Fenris.

"You d-did a n-number on it. H-how?"

"Long story, but right now I might have something that can help us win." Annie said. "You did your part for me, now let me help you just this once."

XXXXXX

Bulkhead and Thor grappled with each other in a way that would look more fitting in Grecian painting than in a nordic hall. Thor's sword lay in pieces on the ground, and they both had visible damages from their punching match. Bulkhead was panting from the constant exertion he was giving to the battle. Thor was also tired, but he barely showed his exhaustion.

"You are a strong warrior. It would be a shame to kill you now." Said Thor.

"Flattery will get you nowhere, pretty boy!" Bulkhead grunted. He put some strength into his legs and lifted Thor over his body and tried to slam him into the ground. But Thor made him over reach himself and fall backwards. "Scrap!"

Thor landed on his feet, still holding Bulkhead's hands. He chuckled and then actually threw Bulkhead's large form across the room into a statue of Odin. Thor walked towards the downed Autobot and cracked his fists.

"You fought well, but in the end you were no match for a god. Be sure to send my regards to your mortal friend in the afterlife."

"Why not say it to my face?"

Thor spun around and saw Annie smirking at her, with Mjolnir pointed at his face. He barely had time to register that she had the weapon before she fired a bolt of lightning that tore into his face, completely obliterating his head in the process. Bulkhead watched shocked as the being he spent so much energy fighting get one shotted by a little girl.

"Bulkhead!"

He looked down to see Annie hugging his foot and smiled, patting her on the back. "Annie, I'm so glad you're alright. But where's Grindor? And how did you do that?"

"Grindor's over in the next room over. He's alive but really hurt. As for this thing," She held up Mjolnir. "It's a kickass hammer that's going to help us get the hell out of here."

"But how? Ironhide's fighting the head honcho and he's not exactly easy to beat." He said. "These things are strong."

"Bulk, trust me. I know what I'm doing. For once at least."

XXXXXXX

For a giant living statue, Odin moved like water, flowing through his attacks with great fluidity and ease. Ironhide was hard pressed to stay on the defensive lest Odin crush his head in his massive hands.

He barely used his cannons as Odin was smart enough to get up close and personal to avoid their firepower. He was surprisingly adept at hand to hand combat, landing precise blows that felt too strong to shake off. And each time Ironhide attacked him and beat him down, Odin seemed to just get more stronger by the second. It was the minerals that was feeding him more energy that he was using, and it gave him a home field advantage that only made Ironhide wish he dint wake up this morning.

"I did not think that you would be so resilient enough to withstand my assault like this. I'm impressed. Not even Loki can shake off my blows." Odin said. Ironhide glared at him.

"Well, unlike your kid, I'm not a pansy. Now shut up and fight!"

Odin lashed out with a punch that Ironhide met with his own. The red Autobot winced as he felt two fingers break upon meeting his punch. They traded more blows within the span of a few seconds. Ironhide backhanded Odin and the being in turn slammed his head into the wall. Ironhide grabbed his arms and threw him across the chamber.

Odin rolled upright and ran forward. Ironhide fired his cannons but Odin dodged his missiles and dug his sharp fingers into his torso, ripping off some armor. He followed up with tearing off Ironhide's missile cannon and crashing it against his head. Ironhide tried to punch him but Odin stepped to the side and karate chopped the Autobot's arm off at the bicep.

Odin smacked Ironhide across the face with his severed arm and when his opponent tried to strike him, he flipped over him and slammed Ironhide into the ground. Ironhide groaned as he pushed himself up to his knees and tried to shoot Odin with his fission chamber. He didn't get a shot off as Odin twisted his arm at an unnatural angle.

"Why do you still persist, even after I have beaten you to the ground?" Odin asked. He leaned down until his face was near Ironhide's face. "It will be less painful if you just accept you fate and surrender. Do that and I will make your death quick and painless."

Ironhide spat energon at his face. "I've never surrendered and I don't plan to any time soon. So get fragged you freak!"

Odin huffed and raised his arm to cut the Autobot in two when Bulkhead came down on him with a wrecking ball. He slammed it on Odin's head and smashed the god into the ground.

"It's over Odin, Thor is dead, as is your pet doggy. You're all alone so give up."

"Odin bows down to no man or god!" Odin shouted. Bulkhead smirked.

"Then why are you on your knees before me?"

Odin roared and charged at Bulkhead, crashing into him. As they fought, Annie stood off to the side, holding Mjolnir against the wall. She was drawing energy from the hephaestium into the hammer to power it up for a rather risky move she was planning that could end badly for all of them if she got it wrong.

"Come on, come on," she muttered. She winced as she saw Bulkhead take a brutal beating from Odin. He wasn't holding back anymore. He was out for blood.

Feeling somehow that Mjolnir was almost full, she pulled it away and began spinning it in her hands. Like a battery, the hammer was charging up as it gained more speed. It began to release a humming noise as it spun faster and faster. When she felt it was ready, she called out to Bulkhead.

"Bulkhead, move!"

The green Autobot rolled to the side and Annie let Mjolnir loose on Odin. The hammer shot forward like a bullet, cutting through the air like a bolt of lightning and shooting into Odin's head and bursting through the other side. It didn't slow down even as it burst through the wall and landed outside in the snow. Bulkhead helped Ironhide up as Odin fell to his knees, the light in his eyes dying.

"You think that you've won, but you've only brought misery to yourselves. Even now others feel my death, and more will come to get their retribution." Odin said. "All you have done is brought the storm upon yourselves, and the tempest will destroy all that you love."

Odin fell to the ground and looked up at the Autobots. "May the Ivory Mother bless you…" The light faded from his eyes and he was finally dead.

The nightmare was over.

XXXXXXX

Back at the Ark, things calmed down a little. Ironhide and Grindor were in the med bay getting their wounds treated by Ratchet, while Bulkhead explained what had happened to Optimus and Prowl. And Annie brought the hammer to Wheeljack to study.

"Incredible, simply amazing." Wheeljack muttered as he looked at the scans. Annie rolled her eyes. "Annie, do you realize what you've found."

"Yes, but I was too busy screaming in pain to fully grasp the implications." She quipped.

"What have you found out, Wheeljack?" Optimus asked.

"Simply put, this hammer is alien technology."

"So it's cybertronian?" Annie asked.

"No, it's alien. No amount of modern cybertronian technology can make something this powerful on a small scale." Wheeljack said. He pointed to the scans. "The hammer is lined with crystal shards no bigger than a grain of sand that has been bonded to the metal on the molecular level. The crystal on the head operates like hephaestium in that it stores and generates energy but on a larger scale. The hammer is actively absorbing ambient electromagnetic energy, thus granting it its electrical properties."

"So can you explain how Annie can lift the thing while Liftor and I could barely get it to move?" Rollbar said. Indeed they needed Annie's assistance in moving Mjolnir to the lab since it was like trying to move Bulkhead's foot with their bare hands.

At that question Wheeljack looked unsure. "I don't know. All I can say is that Mjolnir is coded to only accept people with a certain gene can hold it. Anyone else tries to hold it and the hammer uses electromagnetism to weigh itself to the ground. So for all intents and purposes, only Annie can use it."

"Sweet." Annie smirked.

Optimus narrowed his eyes. All this news about those stone beings, the hammer and that ominous warning has made him worried. "Annie, perhaps it will be best if you let it remain with Wheeljack so he can study it more. You've been through a lot and you need your rest."

Annie knew what he was doing, trying to distance the hyperactive girl from the dangerous giant smiting weapon. But she conceded, for now at least, so that more can be learned from it.

But that didn't mean that she was going to let it go. She looked at her hands and remembered that overwhelming feeling of pain that coursed through them. She thought she had made a mistake, and that she was going to die. She had felt true fear at that moment.

Then it all changed.

The pain changed into something indescribable, then went away. What she felt then was total euphoria. The power of Mjolnir had reinvigorated her, broke her down and rebuilt her into someone who was stronger, faster. The hammer had made her into someone who was prided on strength.

If Mjolnir chose them both, then it meant that something, some small trait Annie had was similar enough to Thor that Mjolnir deemed her worthy. That she was strong enough to harbor its power. The power to fight a god, to kill a god. The power to become a god.

Annie had felt the true meaning of strength, and she wasn't going to let it. A smirk came over her lips. There was no way she was going to let it go. And if she had to fight the Autobots to hold onto that power, then so be it.

All is fair in love and war.


	9. Paradise Lost

Chapter 9-Paradise Lost

The upper atmosphere of the planet Terra was calm and quiet, unlike the rest of the galaxy which was engulfed in the chaos of war between factions of warring mechanical beings. It was as peaceful as it was uneventful and save for a passing satellite, but that peace would soon be shattered in an instant.

A large fireball flew in from places unknown, much like a comet but its flight pattern was too rigid, and not natural at all. It shot straight at Terra and entered its atmosphere, where gravity pulled it down and it was engulfed in even more flames, but didn't burn up like a normal meteor.

Once it passed the stratosphere, it spiraled through and air and descended towards the southwestern side of the western continent. There it crashed into a forest, uprooting dozens of trees before crashing into the ground and carving a flaming trail of debris through the dirt before stopping.

When the smoke cleared, it revealed that it was no comet at all, but a ship. A ship belonging to a very dangerous being.

XXXXXXX

Darren watched from the sidelines in the sparring ring as Arcee and Jazz were dueling. They were fighting with long laser staves, which looked like Bo staves only glowing and dealt a painful shock upon hitting their target. He was amazed at how two giant robots were able to do all these flips and kicks. Hell he had even seen Optimus do some fancy moves that would make a martial artist jealous.

"So, you learn anything from watching them, Darren?" High Wire asked as he walked up to him.

"Only that Arcee is nowhere near Jazz's level." Darren said.

Master and student went at each other with quick and precise strikes, multiple moves being done within a span of a few seconds. But Darren could see that Jazz was just a bit faster than Arcee, and therein lies the difference in skill. Jazz was mostly on defense, easily blocking the pink Autobot's attacks. It was a style that he practiced time and time again, waiting diligently until the time to strike back arrived. This strategy has helped Jazz both on and off the battlefield and it was a tactic that he made sure to teach Arcee.

Arcee spun her staff around her body and launched an upward strike at Jazz, who jumped around her weapon and landed a blow to her abdomen. She grunted but retaliated with a kick to his head, and that was when he made his finishing move. Jazz leapt at her and in one or two moves he wrapped his legs around her waist and flipped his body around, using the momentum to slam her into the floor. Before she could get back up, he kicked her staff away and pinned her down with his staff.

"And that's all she wrote." Jazz grinned.

"Damn," Arcee sighed. Jazz helped her up as Darren walked over to her.

"Wow, I knew Jazz was good but I did think he was that skilled." He said.

"You weren't here when I took both Arcee and Bee. That would've been something to see." Jazz grinned.

"I can imagine." Darren smiled.

"You know, Darren, you could train with us to." Arcee suggested. "I heard Annie say that you weren't very adept with your powers."

"Ugh, I can manage. And it's none of Annie's business anyway, she hasn't exactly been very forthcoming since she came back from Midgard." Darren said. His sister was like a totally different person after that chaotic mission. He didn't know how, but he could sense something was off about her. Not to mention she kept Fenris' severed arm as a freaking trophy. "Besides, I'm good enough to handle Leader-1 and Rumble."

"Good enough isn't going to help you all the time. Remember Darren, you have the potential to be powerful, but as you are, you aren't much of a threat. Practice makes perfect, and one day you may rely on your powers to save lives, yours or someone elses." Jazz told him and walked out of the room, leaving them alone.

"Speaking from experience?" High Wire asked.

"Possibly, Primus knows that Jazz has been around the block in his day." She said. "But if I were you, I would take those words to heart. You're an esper, Darren, the least you could do is try to get better at using your powers. You have the potential to be someone great."

"You and everyone else." He muttered. They walked out of the sparring room and down the hall towards the rec room. "Wait, how did you meet Jazz? I take it that you must've known him for a long time."

Arcee's expression grew a bit strained but she hid it well from Darren and High Wire. "Jazz is like an older brother to me. When he found me, I was in a dark place, but he helped me get through it. For that I am thankful, because if we hadn't met, I wouldn't have met you two."

"Flatterer." Darren blushed.

"Arcee, you got recon duty in Yellowstone." Prowl said as he passed by them. Arcee sighed.

"So much for getting a cold one." She groaned. Darren patted her leg.

"Don't worry, Cee. High Wire and I can come with you." He suggested. Arcee smiled down at him.

"That's sweet of you Darren. Okay you can come, just be sure to get ready. I heard that the forest can be a rough place for a kid."

"Don't worry, I got that covered." Darren ran off to get his supplies for the mission, and High Wire looked up at Arcee.

"Are you sure it's alright for us to go with you? What If something happens?" he inquired.

"Don't worry, if trouble pops up, then I can have Ratchet bridge you two back." She said and made her way to the shuttle bay. "And besides, a kid like him needs some fresh air every once in a while."

XXXXXXX

Yellowstone was a state that was home to one of the largest national parks in the country. When Arcee, Darren and High Wire ground bridged on the edge of a cliff, all they could see was miles and miles of forested land as far as the eye can see. A natural paradise. High Wire marveled at the sight, having rarely been around such dense vegetation in his time on Terra.

"Amazing." He gaped.

"I take it you've never seen trees before?" Darren smirked.

"Cybertron is completely made of metal. The closest it could come to such wonder is the Helix Gardens." High Wire said.

"What are those?"

"A forest of trees made of crystal."

Darren looked at him blankly before sighing. "Of course you'd one-up us."

"Alright boys, let's go we're not here for sight-seeing." Arcee urged them. She took out here scanner and walked back into the forest, searching for any notable energon signatures.

As much Darren liked the calm and quiet aura of the forest, the dreary grey skies and rumbling thunder in the distance killed the warm mood he had. And to make things worse, the humidity was drawing all kinds of creepy critters into the open, most of them the bloodsucking kind. Darren grumbled as he swatted a few mosquitoes that got too close for comfort.

"You doing okay Darren?" Arcee smirked.

"I'm fine, just peachy. I'd be better if these darn bugs would just piss off for five minutes." He said.

"Do you need assistance? I can blast them for you." High Wire suggested.

"That won't be necessary, High Wire. Just the cons of exploring nature."

"Quite the outdoorsman, aren't you Darren?" Arcee quipped.

"You wouldn't be laughing at my survival kit" Darren said proudly, jerking a thumb at the backpack he took along.

"So that's what that is." High Wire muttered. "What's in it?"

"A Swiss army knife, a compass, a flare, some trail mix and water. It may not be as effective as stinger proof metal skin, but it gets the job done."

"I didn't say anything." She laughed. Being around them is a breath of fresh air compared to how things were just a few months ago. She loved her team, but it was nice to have a few new faces around the base as well. A beeping from her scanner caught her attention. "Hmm, that's strange."

"What's wrong?" High Wire asked.

"The scanner's in the red. Energon deposits don't give off this strong a reading." She frowned.

Arcee led the way and her two companions followed her. They walked up a small slope and came upon a clearing, but what they saw surprised them.

It was a ship. It was large, but nowhere near as big as the Ark or Nemesis. Its construction was hard and angular, typical of most Decepticon ships and from the way it was sitting in the trench it made, it was grounded for good.

"It's a cybertronian ship." High Wire noted.

"Ours or there's?" Darren asked. Arcee put her scanner away and drew her blaster.

"Let's find out." She said and looked at High Wire. "You two stay here and out of sight."

She climbed down into the trench and slowly approached the ship. Darren and High Wire saw her go over to the shuttle hatch and cautiously enter the ship. They both waited anxiously, the atmosphere suddenly feeling a lot colder. After a few minutes, they Arcee's pink and white form stagger out of the ship. And she didn't look good.

"Arcee?" Darren called out to her. He grabbed High Wire and went down into the trench. "Arcee!"

Arcee didn't hear her friend's cries. She leaned against the ship with a look of fear on her face. Her hands were trembling and her eyes were wide as she recalled memories that she tried to keep buried.

* * *

 _The city-state of Ky-Alexia was a beautiful place located near the Mythril Sea, Cybertron's only body of water. Before the Autobot/Decepticon conflict, it was a popular tourist site that prided itself on its serenity and out of this world sights. And even after the declaration of war, Ky-Alexia was miles away from the chaos that plagued Iacon and Nova Cronum._

 _Now the city was set aflame, the war having caught up to it, and now it was stuck in the middle of a turf war between both sides that threatened to tear it apart._

 _Three vehicles drove through the war torn streets of the once beautiful city. One was a pink car, and the other two were motorcycles; one purple, the other mint green. The trio of femmes carefully avoided the Decepticon orbital carriers patrolling the skies, and raced into the safety of an abandoned warehouse. There they transformed to robot mode._

" _I think we lost them." The purple femme said lowly. The green femme who looked much younger than her sisters, gave her a skeptical look._

" _You sure?" because I doubt that the Combaticons will let us go just like that." She huffed. "Especially that creep Motormaster."_

" _Moonracer relax," Arcee said. She gave her baby sister a calming smile."I'll protect you both, trust me."_

" _O-okay. I trust you big sis." Moonracer smiled._

" _I just need to call my partner our rendezvous point and we'll be on our way." Arcee looked at the middle sister. "Flamewar, take point."_

" _Got it."_

 _The pink Autobot keyed her comm. "Arcee to Cliffjumper, do you copy?"_

" _I hear you Cee. What's the situation?"_

" _We're deep inside Ky-Alexia's city square and we have the Combaticons on our tail. We're fifty kliks north from your position but Motormaster might cut us off before we can reach you."_

" _No worries, Cee. My team and I are waiting for them. The bridge is secured."_

" _Roger that, Arcee out." She turned to her sisters. "The bridge is ours, let's go"_

 _She was about to head for the door went she felt a pain run through her leg. She looked down to see a bullet wound in her foreleg and fell to one knee. Arcee looked up and saw that it came from the window. A sniper!_

" _Arcee!" Moonracer ran over to her sister. She raised her sniper rifle at the assailant. "Don't worry big sis, we got your back!"_

" _Actually Moon, there's been a change of plans."_

 _Arcee watched in horror as Flamewar leveled her laser crossbow at Moonracer and shot her in the chest._

" _Moonracer!"_

* * *

"Arcee!"

"H-huh?"

Arcee was brought back to the present and saw Darren and High Wire looking up at her concerned.

"What's wrong?" the Minicon asked.

She regained her composure and looked at the ship. She knew who this ship belonged to. She switched on her comm-link.

"Arcee to base, requesting ground bridge. Do you copy?" All she got was static. She cursed. "Base do you copy? Ratchet?" Still no reply. "Scrap! The ship must be emitting a hyper frequency scrambler pulse."

"Arcee, what's going on, you're freaking me out!" Darren said. Arcee transformed and opened her doors.

"Get in."

More than a little scared of her erratic behavior, Darren and High Wire got in. she barely waited for them to settle in before she put it in high gear and drove as fast as she could away from the ship. Her passengers held on for dear life as she weaved through the trees.

"Arcee slow down!" High Wire shouted.

She ignored him and didn't slow down even as she leapt over a small crevice in the ground. She landed perfectly and skidded to a stop, letting them out before transforming again.

"Base answer me, damn it!" She yelled. Even getting far away from the ship didn't help her.

"Arcee, what the hell is going on? Whose ship is that?" Darren asked, losing his patience. Arcee looked at him with a tense expression on her face.

"High Wire, I want you and Darren to stay here while I go check things out. If I'm not back within the hour, get as far away from this place as possible and call Ratchet. Understood?" Arcee didn't wait for an answer and walked away, only for Darren to run in front of her.

"Not until you tell us what's going on! I thought we were your partners!" He shouted. Arcee gritted her teeth and leaned down so her face was right in front of his, making High Wire step back.

"You're not my partner, you're a kid! Esper or not, you are a liability. And I can watch out for danger and you at the same time!"

"We can still help!"

"No you can't. This mission was supposed to be no risk. I am not putting you in danger!" She shouted in a rare show of temper before switching to alt mode and driving away.  
"Darren, you should listen to her. I have never seen her look so angry before on a mission." High Wire said.

"Which is why I'm going to help her. If she thinks having a tantrum is going to scare me off, then she doesn't know me very well." Darren made to follow Arcee's tracks but High Wire grabbed his arm. "Let go."

"No. Prime made sure I was to keep you out of danger, and that's what I plan to do. Going off on your own after Arcee does not qualify as safe." He said sternly. Darren telekinetically pried the Minicon's fingers off his arm and glared at him.

"Then feel free to come with me. If not, stay here. I'm going to help my friend weather you like it or not." Darren said. "And don't try to stop me, you'll be frozen before you can do anything."

High Wire stared at him with his white eyes, before sighing roughly and switching to alt mode. "Get on."

XXXXXXX

Arcee stalked through the forest, her blades drawn and eyes sharp. There was sharp pain in her spark that only grew the deeper she walked into the forest. It was a feeling that she knew all too well and had long since forgone hoping it was just a bad dream.

'It's her damnit! It's got to be!' She thought. 'Why here? Why now of all places?'

* * *

 _Arcee groaned as she came back online, and the memories of earlier came rushing back. She tried to move but found her arms and feet encased in magna-cuffs and suspended in the air._

" _ **Awake I see,"**_ _A harsh, sounding voice rang through the cell in a haunting tone. "_ _ **Good. This wouldn't be as much fun if you were still ssssleeping."**_

 _Arcee strained her eyes to see the speaker in the darkness. When the person did step into the dim light, she gasped._

" _Ashling."_

 _Ashling was one of the most terrifying and brutal Decepticons within their ranks, a chief interrogator and all around disturbing individual. She was a rail thin femme with rusty grey armor and six appendages on her back and two wheels on her leg. Bits and pieces of her armor were missing, showing her inner circuitry underneath. But her most startling feature was her face._

 _Her face was ghoulish in appearance, her mouth set in a perpetual grin, lacking any lips and sporting a grinning mouth of serrated teeth that were little more than jagged pieces of sharp metal. Her eyes lacked any optic glass coverings, showing off her burnt orange eyes in their full glory, shining with unrestrained madness._

" _ **So you know of me, I'm so flattered. I did think any Autobot knew of Megatron's cadaver!"**_ _Ashling cackled. Her laugh sounded like two knives grinding together and it hurt Arcee's audio receptors."_ _ **Now, normally I don't do one on one sessions, but I'm doing this as a favor for a friend of mine. It shouldn't be too hard considering how strong willed you are."**_

" _I have nothing to say to you!" Arcee snarled. Ashling laughed once more._

" _ **That's no way to talk to your generous host. No matter, what I'm going to do to you will be enough punishment. Now open wide, I wanna hear you scream!"**_

 _Acre bit back a scream as Ashling stabbed a laser scalpel in her leg and began to slide downward._

* * *

Arcee inhaled sharply and steeled herself. She couldn't be distracted now. The Autobot continued onward, not really looking for anything, only going on her instinct. Her spark was contracting painfully right now and she knew she was close. Really close.

Suddenly a black form slammed into her from behind. Arcee fell forward into a roll and kicked her attacker off her. The assailant flipped in the air and landed on their feet gracefully.

The femme before her was slender with black armor and glowing red lines along her body. She was wielding a crossbow and fingering a sharp blade on her forearm.

"Flamewar?"

"Can't get nothing past you big sis." Flamewar grinned.

"But how can you still be here? I saw you die!" Arcee said.

"You saw me get shot. It was a close call, but I assure you, it will take more than that to kill me."

"Then I'll just have to try my hardest to snuff you out!"

The two sisters ran at each other and clashed in the middle. Arcee's swords grinded against Flamewar's arm blades, generating sparks. Arcee drew her pistol and tried to shoot her in the face, but Flamewar kicked her away, just barely avoiding getting her head shot off. They clashed in the dark forest, both executing fast strikes and hard punches that caused little damage. Arcee was icked into a tree and rolled away to dodge an arrow fired at her.

"What the hell are you doing here, Flamewar?" Arcee asked. "Still the Decepticons' hunting dog?"

"Oh heavens no. After the Exodus, I work solo these days. Those morons in High Command can go play their war games in hell for all I care."

"Exodus? What Exodus?"

"Ah ah, that would be telling." Flamewar smiled snidely. "I cruise around the galaxy partaking in a fun new hobby of mine. Hunting."

Arcee scowled a she though back to when she explored her sister's ship. While inside she saw that the walls were lined with the severed heads of various alien species, some were cleanly cut, but most were savagely torn off.

"I saw your trophy case."

"Then you can guess why I'm here. Aside from that feeling in my spark that drew me to this planet, I plan on obtaining a specimen from this world. Getting a specimen, living or otherwise from the uncharted regions will get me lots of bragging rights with those alpha males at the hunting community."

"Like hell you are!"

Arcee threw one of her swords at Flamewar, who kicked it out of the air. But it left her open for Arcee's up close attack, an axe-kick to the shoulder that brought her to her knees. She grabbed her arm and flipped her to the ground, mounting her and pointing her blaster at her sister's face.

"Arcee!"

Arcee looked up to see Darren riding High Wire towards them. The distraction allowed Flamewar to kick her off and fire a green energon net from a launcher on her forearm. The net exploded outward and trapped Arcee against a tree. Flamewar smirked and aimed her crossbow at her sister.

"NO!" Darren shouted and punched forward, instinctively sending a strong wave of telekinetic force that shot through the air and hit the side of Flamewar's head.

Caught off guard, the huntress was sent falling into a boulder, hitting her head hard on the stone and knocking her out. Arcee was shocked at seeing Darren perform such a move, but then her surprise turned into anger.

"I thought I told you two to run! What are you doing here?" She asked angrily.

"Saving your tailpipe." Darren replied and ran over to her. "High Wire help me with this."

Arcee could scarcely believe it as the small pair began pulling at the net, trying to dig it out of the tree. "Listen to me, I don't need your help! The only thing you'll do is get in the way! Just go!"

She thought her tone would scare them off, but neither boy nor Minicon were affected by her anger.

"I don't believe that, I can see it in your eyes." Darren said firmly. He looked up at her, green meeting blue in a clash of wills. "I may not have known you for that long, but I do know that you're sweet, kind and leveled headed even under stress. But I can see that you're afraid, and you're never afraid."

His words resonated with her and brought back more unwanted memories.

* * *

 _Arcee coughed up some energon and glared at her tormentor weakly. Her body felt numb with pain, covered in deep wounds leaking energon, her left leg was hanging limp beneath her, connected to her body only with a couple of wires, and her left eye was offline._

" _ **You're strong, Arcee. And very resilient."**_ _Ashling praised, tossing away her energon prod. "_ _ **Or perhaps I was too gentle. No matter, there are other ways to break a warrior."**_

 _She snapped he fingers and two vehicons entered dragging a limp body behind them. Arcee gasped at the numerous wounds and scorched armor that was barely hanging onto her form. She even noticed that she was missing an arm. Arcee was even more horrified to realize that it was her sister, Moonracer._

" _What the hell did you do to her!?"_

" _ **Nothing, it appears that my partner got a bit overzealous in her playtime."**_ _Ashling grinned and turned to the door. "_ _ **I'll be going now, so I'll let my friend have her fun. You can come in now dear."**_

 _Ashling left the cell and a figure walked into the room, her red eyes glowing in the darkness of the cell. Arcee was pained to know who it was before she even stepped into the light._

" _Flamewar, why?"_

" _We can no longer remain neutral in this war big sis. Either you join a side, or you die alone." Flamewar said."I just decided to join the winning team."_

" _You glitch! How could you betray us? We're your family!" Arcee shouted._

" _A perfect little girl like you wouldn't understand. But right now, I'm going to have my fun by doing something I've been dreaming about for a long time."_

 _Flamewar cracked her neck and walked over to Moonracer's broken struggled weakly._

" _Leave her alone!"_

" _Shut up!" I'm going to break you down, Arcee. Starting with this wretch!" Flamewar raised her clawed hand and struck._

 _Arcee watched in horror as Flamewar stabbed her arm into Moonracer's chest, her fingers bursting from her back. She tore out her sister's spark core and crushed it in her hand._

" _NOOOOOOOO!"_

* * *

"You're right, I am afraid, of losing you." Arcee confessed, breaking her strong façade. Darren and High Wire looked at her in shock.

"Sister, you really suck at this protect the innocent thing." Flamewar sat up, rubbing at a cut on her headpiece. "You couldn't even protect Moonracer, what makes you think that they'll make it out in one piece."

"She hunts indigenous species, and she's here on Terra for only one thing, humans! And that means you." Arcee said to Darren who began backing away. "RUN!"

High Wire transformed and Darren got on, giving Arcee one last look before they rode off into the forest. Flamewar sucked her teeth and approached her sister.

"And that's why I work alone. Less baggage to worry about." She leaned in close and took out a small round device and placed it on Arcee's head.

"Do your worst." Arcee growled.

"Oh I intend to, sister, make no mistake about that. But first I'm going to make you suffer. You're going to hunt down you little pets, then you will tear them apart with you own two hands."

Flamewar pressed a button on her wrist controller and a loud bussing went off in Arcee's head. She felt her mind go black and her vision get blurry. Before everything went dark, Arcee desperately hoped that her friends would get away in time.

* * *

Night had fallen in the forest, and it was nearly pitch black. Darren tried to keep his fear at bay as he held on tight to High Wire, who had switched his front headlight on.

"What are we going to do? Arcee's in trouble and we have no way to call the base." Darren said.

"Calm down, Darren. We'll save Arcee, only if we make a plan. We just need some place to hold out so we can think." High Wire replied.

Darren heard the sound of a car engine and glanced back to see Arcee racing towards them. She transformed and lunged at them with sickly green eyes. Darren cursed and pulled High Wire to the side, narrowly avoiding being crushed. Arcee crashed into the ground and moved with quick but sloppy movements. She tried to grab at the duo but they evaded her at every turn.

High Wire saw a small cave not too far from him. "Hold on!"

He swerved around a tree and raced towards the cave, but Arcee was almost on them. Mentally apologizing to her, Darren lifted a nearby bolder and chucked it at her legs, making her trip. This gave them enough time to reach the cave and climb inside.

High Wire transformed and crawled deeper into the tiny tunnel with Darren behind him they didn't stop until they were a good distance from the mouth of the cave. It was dark, but High Wire's large optics provided enough light to see.

"Great, just perfect, now we're in deep slag." Darren groaned.

"Well, the situation may have gotten worse but it's not lost." High Wire said. At Darren's questioning look, he elaborated. "Arcee is clearly being controlled by Flamewar, we just need to get that thing off her head and she'll be back to normal."

"Which still leaves us with the murderous alien poacher hunting me." Darren muttered. He took off his backpack and looked inside, pulling out the flares and knifed. "Oh who am I kidding?"

He took a moment to think, then a light-bulb switched on in his head. Seeing his face light up, High Wire knew that his friend had an idea.

"I take you have a plan?" He asked coyly. Darren smirked.

"Something like that. But you might not like it."

XXXXXXX

Flamewar glared at the motionless form of her older sister, who stood before her like a statue. She wasn't pleased to learn that Arcee lost her quarry.

"How hard is it to catch a boy and his pet Minicon?" She hissed. "One damn fleshling not even in his adolescent years! Is it too much to ask for you to bring me his corpse? Hell, even his head will do."

Arcee said nothing, as expected. Flamewar scowled and got face to face with her spark sister.

"You have no idea how much I hate you. All those years of living in your shadow, listening to people go on and on about how pretty you were, or how skilled you were, licking the ground you walked on like a bunch of mongrels! Just because you could do some fancy tricks with a gun." She snarled. "Then Moonracer, motormouth Moonracer, gets praised for being a class A sharpshooter. As if being trumped by you wasn't bad enough, now I had to contend with being shown up by the runt of the trio. Do you have any idea how embarrassing it is to be compared by your sister who can't shut up for five nano-kliks? I couldn't handle it."

She stepped back, checking her crossbow as she continued. "I was actually sad when I heard that the Ark went missing, I thought that you died, that my chance at getting to kill you was taken from me in an act of divine retribution. I thought that even in death you had still got the jump on me. But here we are, millions of stellar cycles later, you the slave and me the master. And now," She leveled the weapon at Arcee's head. "I can finally get the retribution I deserve!"

"Don't even think about it!"

She looked up to see High Wire standing by a groove of trees. She smiled and pointed at him. "Kill him."

Arcee ran at the Minicon, who watched forms and drove off into the dark forest. It took Flamewar a minute to realize that Darren was not with the Minicon like she thought he was. Where was he?

"Hey, second best!" Darren walked out from behind a tree. "You seem to be having fun letting others do your dirty work. Bet you can't catch me."

Flamewar smirked and ran at Darren. When she was close enough, he pulled out a flare gun and fired a shot, using his powers to make sure that it would hit her right in the eye. She cried out and fell to her knees, clutching at her eye.

"Have fun trying to hunt with one eye." Darren remarked before running away.

Flamewar rubbed her eye and she grinned. "That little bastard. That was actually very clever. This'll be fun."

XXXXXX

High Wire drove along the uneven ground of the forest floor, making sure that he was leading Arcee as far away from Flamewar as possible.

It was a risky plan, separating the sisters and dealing with them individually. Darren handled the black sheep while High Wire dealt with the good sister. Divide and conquer.

Arcee moved in a robotic fashion that was easy to evade and highly predictable. He led her into a small clearing and turned around, only to see her gone.

"Huh?" Where was she?

Her giant form dropped down from above and landed behind him. High Wire was grabbed around the waist and lifted up to her face. Feeling her tighten her grip on his body, High Wire knew he had to act fast. He raised his secret weapon, a flare gun, and pulled the trigger.

The flare flew into her eyes and exploded, blinding her. This caused her grip on him to loosen and he wriggled free. Clutching Darren's knife in his hand, High Wire jumped onto her head and stabbed the blade into the disc on her head.

For a moment nothing happened, then Arcee's body twitched a little ad the green hue in her eyes faded. The device sizzled and short out before falling off, as did the pink Autobot, who fell to the ground. High Wire rolled to the ground and laid on his back.

"It's up to you Darren." He muttered before blackout.

XXXXXXX

Darren ran through the forest as fast as he could. It was a starting to rain now, and he had to make an effort to see in the dark without resorting to using a flashlight and giving away his position. Not that it mattered, since he had a better chance at fighting Megatron barehanded instead of hiding from her.

He dared to look back and saw that Flamewar was leaping from tree to tree with the agility of an organic monkey. He could even see that damned hellish grin on her face, she was treating this like it was a game! He'll show her not to take him lightly.

When she leapt for another branch, Darren reached out with his mind and made the normally strong branch break the minute she landed on it. Flamewar was caught off guard as she fell, but she landed on her feet.

"You'll have to do more than that to shake me off boy!" Flamewar laughed.

"Very well." Darren took a deep breath and lashed out with his powers, sending a telekinetic wave at the trees surrounding her.

Flamewar was shocked to see the trunks for the trees around her explode in a shower of splinters and caved in on her. The femme was buried under a pile of trees, not enough to kill her but it gave him enough time to make some distance. Darren got back to running through the forest, trying to remember where that ship was.

XXXXXXX

Arcee woke up with a groan and sat up. The memories of earlier came rushing back to her and she shot up in fight.

"Darren, High Wire!"

She got to her knees and saw that High Wire was on the ground motionless. He was still online but just knocked out. She cradled his body as she sat there weighed down by her emotions. All this, the memories, Flamewar, it was just too much. After all the time she spent trying to forget, the past comes rushing back to kick her in the teeth.

'After all the effort I put into making sure they don't get involved, they get caught smack dab in the middle.' She thought sadly. 'Primus, my life is a joke.'

* * *

 _Arcee stared at the corpse of Moonracer in shock. She didn't move, and didn't utter a sound, not even a whimper or cry. She didn't even register Flamewar slowly inching a dagger near her eye._

 _The door to the cell was suddenly blasted inward and three Autobots came rushing in; Elita-1, Chromia and Firestar. Flamewar cursed and tried to shoot them, but Firestar was quicker, blasting her with a jet of flame that hit her with great force and sent her crashing through the wall._

" _Get her down, now!" Elita ordered._

 _Chromia and Firestar quickly freed Arcee and half carried her to the door. Arcee shook them off and crawled over to her sister's body, cradling her and rocking back and forth as she let out tearless sob._

" _I couldn't save her! I couldn't save my sister! IT'S ALL MY FAULT!"_

* * *

"I'm so sorry, guys. I was too busy trying to keep you safe, and al I did was put you in more danger. I didn't want to lose you like Moonracer." Arcee said. "I don't want to go through that pain again."

"It's nothing…to be ashamed about Arcee."

Arcee looked down at the Minicon in her hands. "High Wire!"

"You were only doing what you thought was right. But you have to remember that you're not alone anymore. You have me and Darren and the rest of the team." High Wire grunted as he sat up. "You may have failed in the past, but things change. We can beat her, together."

Arcee looked at him for a minute before her eyes narrowed and a determined look crossed her face. She wasn't going to let any more people get hurt because of her mistake.

She was going to make sure of that.

XXXXXXX

Darren's lungs were on fire when he finally reached the crashed ship. He almost got lost a few times, but he still managed to remember the place where Arcee and Flamewar first battled. He stopped to take a breather, but heard the sound of footsteps heading his way and sighed.

"And Annie wonders why I don't take Track." He wheezed and ran towards the ship. "All this running is ridiculous."

Flamewar emerged from the forest and smirked when she saw that his trail lead to her ship. She strolled down the trench and to the shuttle bay with a swagger in her step, thinking that he might be hiding inside to throw her off.

"Like the place, Darren? I saved a spot for you on my wall!" She said, her voice echoing through the ship. "It's where you'll soon hang your head!"

But Darren wasn't in the ship, he was hiding under the ship's boosters. He breathed a sigh. Then he noticed that he stepped in a puddle of blue liquid that was dripping from the engines.

"Energon." He muttered and smirked. Just what he needed.

Darren reached into his bag and pulled out his last flare. He pulled off the nozzle, which was louder than he thought. Hearing Flamewar's running out of the ship, and tossed the flare into the puddle of energon near the thrusters and ran like hell. Flamewar ran to the top of the ship and saw the flames nearing the engines and snarled.

"DARREN!"

The ship exploded, going up in a plume of flame so large that it lit up the dark forest. The shockwave from the explosion knocked Darren off his feet and he crashed into the dirt. Groaning he stood up, rubbing his sore shoulder where he landed.

"Good riddance." He said.

He climbed back up the slope and away from the burning wreckage, but then a large arrow hit the spot next to him. Darren heard a beeping noise coming from the arrow and cursed as it exploded. He had just enough time to erect a force shield to protect him, but the blast sent him flying into a tree. Dazed and out of breath, he pulled himself up and looked to see Flamewar sitting on a branch.

Her armor was scorched and smoking and her expression was less than pleased at almost being blown to scrap. She jumped to the ground and Darren tried to lift some debris to throw at her, but she trapped him with one of her energo-nets.

"Now, now, Darren, none of that slag. I've had just about enough of your magic tricks." She snarled. She stabbed the bayonet portion of her crossbow into the ground next to him and leaned down. "It takes a lot to piss me off, but you've done a wonderful job getting my feathers ruffled. More so than dear old Arcee, good job. Now here's your prize."

Flamewar was about to run him through with her bayonet when she heard a car engine roar from behind her. Arcee raced out of the forest, high Wire powerlinked to her, and she leapt into the air. She transformed and landed a hard punch to Flamewar's jaw, knocking the femme to the ground.

Flamewar recovered and tried to fire her weapon, but Arcee knocked it from her hands and grabbed her arm, twisting it until she heard a crack.

"This is for Moonracer!"

Arcee landed a series of hard kicks to her sister's face hard enough to send energon spurting everywhere. Flamewar launched a weak spin kick at her, but Arcee jumped back.

"This is for Darren!"

She leapt up and delivered a strong axe-kick onto Flamewar's shoulder, which dented the armor and nearly broke her shoulder joint on impact.

"And this is for me!"

Arcee punched Flamewar in the chest with enough force to send a shockwave rippling through her body. The huntress was sent crashing through several trees before she landed on the ground, severely wounded.

Arcee ran over to Darren and freed him while High Wire disengaged from her and transformed.

"Darren are you alright?" High Wire asked.

"Ask me again when the ringing stops." Darren groaned. He winced when High Wire hugged him and patted him on the back. He looked up at Arcee. "And how are you feeling?"

"Better now that you're fine." She answered and frowned. "And…I'm sorry you two had to face my demons for me. And for everything I said earlier. You were pretty brave there."

"No, I was terrified. Mostly for you." Darren smiled, patting her hand.

"Are you holding up well?" High Wire asked her.

"I'm getting there. It's like Optimus said once, not all scars are physical." She said. "And mine are going to take time to heal over."

They heard a noise behind them and turned to see Flamewar transform into her alt mode and drive off. Arcee tried to shoot her, but the huntress got away into the forest.

"Damn, so much so closure." Arcee growled.

"And now she's stuck here on Terra." High Wire noted nervously. "I'm not sure that's a good thing."

"So what now?" Darren asked.

"Now, we go home…partner." Arcee smiled. Darren smiled back and slung an arm around High Wire's shoulder.

"That's a good idea."

Arcee knew that she would never fully get over losing Moonracer, but she still had the memories of a time when they were all a family. And she wouldn't shoulder this burden alone; she had Jazz and the rest of the team, even Darren. He was a part of this to.

But she vowed to hunt down Flamewar and take that murderer down. She won't let Darren or any other person suffer the same way she had for so many years.

'No matter how far you run or where you hide, I will find you sister. And you won't come near my friends, my new family ever again. Because I'm coming for you!"


	10. Zodiac

Chapter 10-Zodiac

 **Azteca, 2003**

Theodore Harkins wiped the sweat from his forehead for the thousandth time since he woke up three hours ago, once again cursing the ungodly Aztecan heat. He stared down at the laptop he was working on and sighed at the little progress he made. He only managed to type one paragraph!

"I can't do this." He sighed and shut his computer down before standing up and stretching his stiff body. Then he made his way out his tent.

He walked out into the heavy, humid heat that permeated the Amazonian climate and looked at the rest of the campsite. Only some of these people were a part of his archaeological team of students hand-picked from his class. The rest were hired help from some pro-esper group, many of whom did not look friendly at all.

"Well it's about time you came out of your humble abode, professor." A sweet voice laughed behind him.

Theo turned around and saw his star pupil, Madelyne Pryor, standing behind him. She was a true natural beauty, with long red hair tied up in a bun, flawless skin and light brown eyes. Even in the unflattering olive green T-shirt and brown shorts did not lessen her attractiveness.

She was a very dedicated student, taking to his classes with a fervor that rivaled his daughter. Madelyne displayed a maturity that one wouldn't normally find in a young adult, and her love of Arian culture made him smile. It was always good to see young people interested in history.

"Well, I couldn't have my dedicated students make this huge discovery without me." Theo smiled. He flinched when he heard an explosion go off nearby. "Though if I wanted to live near this racket I could have just gone back home."

Madelyne giggled, eyes shining with mirth. "Be at ease, Theo, they know what they're doing. And it saves us a lot of money from buying tons of explosives."

I suppose but-oh!" Theo was pulled to the side to avoid a giant spinning ball that rolled past them and out of the campsite, mowing down some trees. The ball stopped and unfolded into a tall, bulky man with segmented armored skin like an Armadillo's. "Thank you."

"Any time." She said and turned to the ball man. "Rath, watch it!"

"Sorry!" The esper said in a heavy Aztecan accent.

"That makes my first near death experience on this expedition. I hope we can avoid any others." Theo said mildly.

"I'm sorry, these guys can get a little out of control when they get into their work."

"Maddie, are you sure that we can trust these people?" Theo asked. He wasn't a racist or anything, but some of these people looked like they worked in a cartel. "They have dealing with Karaba."

"These people are associates of my boyfriend. I know some of them, so of course I trust them. And we don't really have a choice in the matter, this is something that cannot get out to the public eye until we've learned everything there is to know."

Theo and Madelyne looked down into a small valley that held their greatest find yet. It was an alien ship, green armored and about twice the size of a regular military airship. What appeared to be the front of the ship was half buried inside a mountain, and it took a whole team of espers to uncover just enough of it to allow them entry into the craft. Madelyne was hanging the time of her life, but Theo was nervous.

'I still don't think we should've kept this from the committee. A discovery like this is too big for us to handle alone." He said seriously. "Not to mention leave in the hands of, forgive me, thugs."

Madelyne sighed and gave him a look. Her brown eyes seem to glow an amber color for a moment but Theo chalked it up to a trick of the light.

"Professor, if we told the Board what would you think will happen? That they will offer us their aid and use this information for the betterment of mankind?" She asked in a tone that allowed no argument. "Rest assured that they're going to blab to the government, who will swoop in and confiscate everything we have on the ship and then swipe it out of the country in the name of "national interest". They will use its technology to create more big guns to kill people faster, and I can't let that happen. So yes Professor, I am sure about keeping this our little secret."

Theo pursed his lips and said nothing. If there was one flaw about the otherwise perfect Madelyne, it was her unbridle hatred for the government and military. Not just in the Helix Republic, but in general. Her views on them were less than stellar, and whenever they so much as touched the subject, it was as if her angelic features turned demonic and feelings that were buried were brought to the surface. He certainly hoped that she wasn't going to abuse the knowledge they were uncovering.

"Maddie!" A young child wearing a tattered white shirt and shorts much too big for him came running up to them. He gave her a big smile as he relayed the news he was told. "They've managed to open a whole into the ship! The others are waiting for your orders!"

"Good boy, go tell them to gather some of our heavy hitters and prepare for entry."

The boy nodded and scurried off into the valley. Theo watched him go with a forlorn expression.

"His name is Roberto. He manifested his powers when he was only five, able to absorb solar energy and channel it threw his body. It just turned on one night, making him glow like a star in the middle of the night. The other people in his village treated him like everything he touched turned to ash." Madelyne said. She walked into the dig site with the professor following her. "When I found him, they were trying to stone him to death, but I took him far from the place. Gave him some meaning to his life that wasn't just trying to survive long enough to see the next sunrise. You have a child, don't you professor?"

"Yes, a little girl. She'll be turning 11 in December." He said fondly. Madelyne smiled.

"It must feel good to have a family, someone to love and love you in return." She sighed.

"You don't have a family?"

"Not since the day I was born."

They approached the hole that was made in the ship, where a small group of people, probably mercenaries, were waiting for them. Madelyne and Theo joined them and took point.

"Shall we?" She asked motioning to the hole. Theo nodded and entered first, switching on his flashlight.

The interior of the ship was large and spacey, but the thousands of years of inactivity had worn down the metal and technology beyond repair. Theo and Madelyne looked around them in awe, marveling at the amazing construction that was reminiscent of die cast molds.

They made their way through the dark hallways and soon entered what had to be the ship's command center. Like everywhere else in the ship, the computers were either broken or dark, covered in a fine layer of dust and everything was strewn about.

As her associates checked out other areas of the ship, Madelyne was looking at a large insignia on the control panel of the pilot's seat. It was a blue diamond symbol that had a curved half pentagon inside. She ran her hand down the symbol and her red lips split into a smile, her eyes glowing gold in the darkness.

"Glorious."

XXXXXXX

"Ha! I win again!"

"Damn it! You're cheating I know it!"

"You're sitting right next to me, Tracer, you know it's impossible to cheat."

"Yeah well, I didn't have my eyes on you."

"Typical noob excuses."

"Don't call me a noob!"

Rollbar sighed and rubbed his temples as he tried to work at his little workstation of the Minicon/Human area, studying the readings he was getting from the hammer Mjolnir. He was working on it along with Liftor so that Wheeljack would have less to worry about. Prowl had been giving him a lot of pressure on trying to figure out who made it and what it's capabilities were. The problem was that without Annie holding it, the hammer was little more than dead metal.

And working next to the arguing femmes wasn't helping either. He looked over at Tracer and D-Va, who were both playing some fighting games Gina had loaned them. From what he saw, D-Va had found a new hobby in playing online and beating her opponents into the ground.

"You lose again scrublord!" D-Va cheered. Tracer grumbled at her ninth loss and threw her controller down.

"It's not fair, I was getting lag on my side!"

"We're sitting right next to each other, Tracer, there is no lag between us!"

'Primus help me.' Rollbar groaned and banged his head on the table.

"Rough night?" Sparkplug asked as he walked in, holding two mugs of energon.

"You could say that. Thanks." Roll bar took the cup and extended a wire from his arm into the drink. He hummed as his body recognized the taste. "Is this ferrum positive?"

"Yup, managed to snag some before Bulkhead chugged the whole tank down." Sparkplug said and looked at the computer. "How long have you been working on this?"

"Three days, two hours, 49 minutes, and 34-wait, 35 seconds." The silver Minicon answered. "I'm filling in for Liftor until he gets his rest."

"You should get some rest to, Optimus can hold off Prowl."

"I know, but it's not just because of Prowl that I'm doing this." Rollbar looked at the outline of Mjolnir on the computer screen. "Look at it, Sparkplug and tell me that you aren't the least bit curious about how a hammer this small could grant a little girl enough power to drop not one but two monsters in a row. Even with cybertronian technology, such power would have to used sparingly. But the way Mjolnir works, it's like its actual magic."

"Advanced science is indistinguishable from magic, Rollbar. It's probably something that we haven't seen yet."

"True that," Rollbar sighed. Then something popped up on the screen. "What's this?"

"What is it?"

"An alert. Teletran detected something." Rollbar typed in some commands and a wall of text showed up on the screen. His eyes skimmed the text and went wide. "Primus…"

"What?"

"Sparkplug, you need to see this."

In his office, Optimus was talking with Jazz and Prowl about recent events that had been going on, namely the arrival of Arcee's sister Flamewar. Having heard in her report on the event, they were generally worried about the news Arcee had told them.

"So they think we're dead, huh?" jazz sighed. "That's depressing."

"Everyone saw our ships go up in a flash of light inside an exploding space bridge. I'm amazed that we're even still alive." Prowl said. "You don't just get lucky with inter-dimensional gateways."

In a way, it was almost poetic. Nova Prime, Cybertron's first Prime since the Age of Evolution, had went on a very similar crusade to the stars to spread cybertronian ideals across the galaxy. But he and his crew were lost when they went into a space anomaly in the Benzuli Expanse, abruptly marking the decay of the Golden Age and the rise of a functionist puppet government.

"What troubles me is this Exodus Flamewar spoke of. What is it?" Optimus questioned.

"I can hear the capital E in the word, which means that it must be really big. I hope it doesn't have anything to do with the others." Jazz said. "The more we learn, the worst it seems to get for the planet at large."

Optimus nodded and leaned back in his seat. Some more information would be needed before they can make any conclusion, but with no contact off world, their only source of information lies with Flamewar, and her whereabouts were unknown. And even if that weren't the case, Optimus doubted he could stop Arcee from killing her before they could interrogate her sister.

Suddenly Ratchet called in on the communicator. "Optimus, we have a situation."

"What is it Ratchet?"

"Teletran just detected a cybertronian ship on the scanners. It's the Exodus."

A few minutes later, the Autobots and the Minicons were assembled in the Command Center, with a holo-map emanating from the table.

"The signal is coming from Azteca, within Ordalian territory." Ratchet said, pointing to the southwestern area of the continent.

"What did you do to find it?" Optimus asked Rollbar.

"Nothing. It came out of nowhere." He answered.

"Peculiar, considering we've never even detected any trace of it until now." Prowl muttered.

Tracer looked at the Autobots and spoke her mind. "Um, what are we waiting for? Our ship is right there, waiting for us! We should go salvage whatever we can before the Cons come knocking."

"Tracer is right, it's all we have from Cybertron. And it may have some tech that can aid us in finding our lost comrades." D-Va said.

"Yes, but it's still suspicious that we would suddenly find it now out of the blue," Optimus began but Sparkplug shook his head.

"Whatever the case, we need to find it now. I don't want anyone else but us getting what could still be left on those computers." He said firmly. "And if you won't go, then we will."

Optimus looked down at the Minicons and knew that they were fully willing to go with or without the Autobots. He sighed and turned to Ratchet. "Ratchet, open a ground bridge. Prowl, Bumblebee, you're with me. The rest of you will remain on standby."

"Thank you, Prime." Sparkplug smiled. Optimus said nothing, feeling uneasy about all this. Something was about to happen.

XXXXXXX

A opened up in the middle of the Amazon Rainforest in Azteca, and the four Autobot team, plus Sparkplug and Jolt, stepped out into the thick, moist air that felt very stifling even to the robotic beings.

"Let's go find the ship before I start to rust from all this humidity." Jolt said, riding on top of Bumblebee's shoulder.

"Yes, time is of the essence Autobots." Optimus led the way through the forest, in their robot mode of course. There was too much vegetation for them to drive in their alt modes.

Unbeknownst to them, there were two sets of eyes following their movements. Two Talos clad in camouflage armor hid in the thick leaves and vines, out of sight of the Autobtos. Once they were far enough out of sight, one of the men whispered into his radio.

"Sir, we've got some visitors, just like you predicted."

" _How many?"_ A deep voice said on the line.

"Four, one of them is large. I think it's their leader."

" _Monitor them, but do not engage. I'll prepare our little introduction."_

"Yes sir."

The second phase can already begin.

XXXXXXX

"We've got a Minicon panel!" Longarm announced.

"Now?" Ratchet frowned. That was perfect timing. "Where is it?"

"It's in Azteca, but within Federation territory. Somewhere around El Dorado."

Ratchet grunted and turned to Jazz. "Jazz-"

"No need, doc, we're already on the job." Jazz, along with Ironhide and Arcee went to the shuttle bay. D-Va turned to the medic.

"Ratchet, what's wrong?" She asked.

"The timing of this Minicon and the appearance of the Exodus is looking less like a coincidence y the minute." He said seriously.

"Do you think it's a Decepticon trap?"

"Possibly, but it's not like Megatron to hold out such a farce for this long."

Ratchet had no idea that he was very correct with his assumptions, but he didn't know that the threat coming was something much more unpredictable.

XXXXXXX

Prime and his team trudged through the dense jungle and came upon a deep canyon. Even through the darkness they could see the wreckage that was the front half of the Exodus, mostly buried in the ground.

"There it is," Sparkplug breathed. "I never thought I would see it again. Come on, let's-"

"Wait." Bumblebee said. He narrowed his eyes and slowly edged down into the canyon. He magnified his optical vision and took a closer look.

"What do you see?" Optimus asked.

"I think I see tracks. Car tracks maybe." Bumblebee said. "And they're fresh."

Sparkplug scowled and Optimus fingered his blaster. "Proceed with caution."

They went down into the valley and cautiously approached the ship, weapons ready. Then they heard some noise coming from inside the ship and saw what looked like four robots rolling out a hole in the ship.

They were Talos, mecha tanks in fact. They had humanoid torsos built on modified tank treads, and had pitch black armor with crimson visors. Two were harboring shoulder mounted six-chambered missile pods, and the other two had shoulder-mounted auto-cannons.

They were towing a large crate behind them, one that was emanating a strange but familiar energy that only Optimus recognized. It didn't take long before the Talos pilots inside noticed that Autobots and didn't waste a single moment in opening fire on them.

The Autobots were assaulted by a hail of weapons fire from the Talos, which were heavily armed with missile pods and artillery cannons. The bullets simply bounced off their tough armor, but the missiles, when they hit their target, actually hurt. Optimus and Prowl backed off a bit, but Bumblebee ran forward, powerlinking with Jolt.

"Bee, fall back!" Prowl shouted.

Bumblebee didn't listen. He fired a blast from his solar cannon and the explosion tore apart the treads the tanks were rolling on, causing two of them to tip over. The remaining two machines backed off a bit, and Bumblebee pressed his assault. He wouldn't kill the humans inside, but he wasn't going to let them use him as a shooting gallery.

He was just within grabbing distance of the crate when a beam came down from above and hit him square in the chest. There was an explosion that sent him flying back and crashing to the ground. Another beam was shot at him, but Optimus ran in and blacked it, the explosion rebounding off his battle blade.

They looked up and saw an airship hovering over the crash site, and from the gondola more soldiers in black uniforms and silver masks slid down on tow lines. One of them actually jumped from the airship and landed on the Exodus' hull without any injuries, and it should be noted that he looked different from the rest.

The man was clad in a deep crimson Talos suit, one more streamlined than any modern armor on the market. It had a high caliber rifle attached to the waist and wing-like protrusions on the back. His helmet was in his hand, large and modeled after Roman centurion helmet with the Mohawk made of copper.

Without his helmet, the man's face was exposed. He looked to be middle-aged, but sporting a strong build and a piercing gaze. His storm grey eyes were cold but an odd feature about him was the vertical third eye sitting on his forehead. Optimus held his gaze with the human until he heard Ratchet call him on the comm-unit.

" _Optimus!"_ His voice was fading in and out in static.

"Ratchet, we have come into contact with humans! Can you get their location?"

" _No Optimus, I'm having trouble keeping in contact with you! Wait…I think someone's hacked into our communications frequencies!"_

"Greetings Autobots. It's nice to finally meet you all at last." The man said in a powerful tone. Back at the Ark, his voice was also heard over the comm-units, relaying his message to all.

"Who are you?" Optimus asked.

"I am Aries, general of the Organization of the Zodiac, but you can call us OZ." Aries said.

"How do you know us?" Prowl asked, standing over Bumblebee. He was trying to contact the base but got no signal.

"We know a great deal of your existence on our planet. Your awakening a year ago has not gone unnoticed to some of our more…spiritual members." Aries smirked.

"You talk big for a human in a fancy costume, you bastard!" Sparkplug shouted. "What the hell do you think you are doing with our technology? We aren't going to let you sell it on the black market like this!"

"Who said I was going to sell it?" Aries replied. "We are at a crucial point in human history Autobots. For centuries humans have evolved, built great civilizations, only for their base instincts to tear everything they built to the ground. And now they have ceased to evolve. They no longer get smarter, nor do they act on their base instincts to survive. They lie in a stasis, and the only way to get them to advance, is to have them evolve!"

"And you plan to use our technology to do this?" Optimus growled. He had heard this argument before from individuals who had no regard for the rights of the people.

"Yes, but not just this tech." He pointed down at them. "We need you cybertronians as well. Metal beings with real, physical souls. You hold the key to achieving a new form of evolution within your very bodies, your very souls, and we need you to realize our goals."

"Like we're gonna let you do that!" Jolt yelled.

"Unfortunately for you, you don't have a choice!" Aries said. Then he took a deep breath and exhaled.

A large clear beam of energy came shooting from his head and at the Autobots. Optimus grabbed Sparkplug and rolled to the side to avoid the large explosion that blew a hole in the ground. He helped Prowl pull Bumblebee behind some rocks and ducked down when another beam hit their position.

" _Boss bot? You there?"_

"Jazz, we are being attacked by humans! We need assistance now!" Prowl shouted.

" _No can do Prowler, we're getting the same rough treatment on our end to. Looks like that Minicon we detected was a ruse."_

Optimus cursed. "What is your status?"

" _They caught us in an ambush and Arcee got hit pretty badly. They're using weapons designed to take out tanks boss bot. and what's worse is that we can't contact Ratchet for a ground bridge."_

This was very intricately planned. Optmus looked over the rocks and saw that the soldiers were loading the crate onto the top of the Exodus so they could hook it up to the gondola and haul it into their airship. He didn't know what was in there, but he couldn't let them steal ad abuse cybertronian technology.

"Prowl, watch over Bumblebee and Jolt!" Optimus ran from cover and transformed, driving at high speed towards the ship.

Aries frowned and fired another beam at Prime. He swerved around each blast, struggling to stay on course as explosions rippled around him. When he was sure he was close enough, a beam exploded in front of him, sending him flying nose first in the air.

"Optimus!" Prowl shouted.

XXXXXXX

The other team wasn't having a very good time either. They were pinned down in the ruins of a city that had seen better days long before they arrived there. The Autobots were engaged in a firefight with the OZ forces that had surrounded them and were taking pot shots at them from the trees.

Arcee was sitting behind a wall trying to keep water from seeping into her wounded thigh. One of the Talos had fired a sabot round that got her right near her joint and took her down. Jazz and Ironhide were covering her, but they couldn't do much with their enemy using the vegetation as cover.

"I'm getting really sick of this scrap!" Ironhide growled. "I didn't come all the way out here to the hottest place on Terra only to be riddle with fragging bullet holes!"

"Feel free to go out there and tell them that." Jazz said, firing his photon rifle into the trees, only to get a face full of bullets shot at him. "You doin' alright there Cee?"

"Yeah, just trying to ignore the pain." Arcee hissed. She looked over the wall and at a certain part of the trees where she was still detecting that Minicon signal. "Jazz, I think they have a Minicon with them."

"What?"

"Yes, I can sense it. They have a panel with them and must've used it to draw us here." She said. As if to prove her right, a helicopter flew in just above the tree line and two men carrying a small crate started to board it. "They're already on the move!"

"Jazz, you got to get that panel back now!" Ironhide said. He detached his arm cannons and began hooking them together.

"But what about-"

"We'll be fine. We've been through worse scraps than this." The red Autobot grinned. "I'll cover you."

Jazz nodded and ran out into the open. Ironhide also broke cover to fire his amalgamated cannon at the surrounding forest, pelting their hidden assailants with plasma blasts that destroyed the trees covering the Talos and forced the OZ soldiers to retreat.

The attack chopper that was hovering over them lowered a bit more so that it had Ironhide in its sights. At that moment, Ironhide and Arcee noticed the rocket pods on its underside and knew it was time to move. Ironhide grabbed Arcee and leapt from the stone archway just as the chopper fired two rockets at them, blowing apart the place they were using as cover.

Once the men were inside, the chopper began to fly away, but Jazz leapt into the trees and was in pursuit of the craft. One way or another, he was not leaving this place without a souvenir!

XXXXXXX

"I still can't get either Optimus or Jazz on the comms!" Ratchet growled frustrated. "Somehow they're blocking our communications! Bulkhead, go aid Jazz's team!"

"On it!" Bulkhead ran out the Command Center and to the shuttle bay.

"How are they doing this?" The medic said. This attack on them was way to organized to be a random attack. "We need to get them out of our systems before they cause too much damage!"

"Maybe we can hack their tech using the signal they're blocking us with." D-Va suggested.

"Cyber warfare is not my forte, D-Va, nor is it Wheeljack's. This is something Gina can do with her eyes closed." Ratchet said. Rollbar shook his head.

"But we don't have Gina, there's only us. And we can manage something." He grabbed a computer and began working at the console. "I may need your help on this Ratchet, let's show these guys why they shouldn't mess with us."

XXXXXXX

Optimus flew through the air, seemingly knocked out from the explosion that caught him right in the nose of his truck mode. But then he transformed in mid-air and threw something at Aries. The general thought that it was a bomb, but to his surprise it was a Minicon. Sparkplug!

Sparkplug crashed into Aries and they both went falling to the hull of the ship. Aries kicked him off and got up, slammed his metal fist into Sparkplug's face. Sparkplug stumbled back from the unexpectedly strong blow and fired his wrist cannons. Aries bloced the bullets with his arms and pulled two curved blades from his back, which then began to glow red.

"Wonderful." Sparkplug grunted.

He dodged and weaved through Aries' attacks, feeling the heat of those blades nearly cut into his armor. Aries went for a downward strike and Sparkplug grabbed his arm, throwing him over his shoulder and into the ground.

When he ran at Aries, the general shot up and fired his eye beam at nearly point blank range. Sparkplug had just enough time to move his head as the extremely hot beam shot dangerously close to his face and exploded against the canyon wall. He fell to his knees and Aries came at him with a kick to the chest, knocking him back.

"You're fifty years too late to be fighting me, you fool." Aries said and took a deep breath to finish Sparkplug off.

Then a red armored hand reached around him from behind and grabbed his head just as he fired his eye beam, aiming his head at the airship. The beam tore into the gondola, killing some of the soldiers there and knocking the crate loose. Aries threw Jolt off him and jumped to the side as the crate crashed to the ground.

Aries glared at the two Minicons and made to engage them when he heard his pilot's voice ring over the comm.

"Sir, we've got a situation!"

"What is it?" He growled. He didn't have time for this!

"Some hacker's using the channel we used to block their communications. They should be in the system any minute now!"

Aries inwardly snarled, but he kept his face emotionless. "Deal with it."

"Yes sir."

XXXXXXX

Ratchet and Rollbar worked as fast as they could. They had made a makeshift virus that was supposed to infect OZ's systems and shut them down long enough for them to provide aid for their comrades.

But then things went south. Their systems froze and an image of a bomb about to explode popped up on the screen.

"Slag! They're planning to delete out software with a counter-virus!" Ratchet cursed.

"We can't get rid of it in time!" Rollbar exclaimed.

D-Va hurried over to a control panel without anyone noticing and quickly got to work, moving her fingers over the keys at lightning fast speeds. Once she was done she entered the commands and watched as the bomb disappeared before it could reach 0. Everyone was puzzled.

"Um…what did you guys do?" Tracer asked.

"N-nothing, I don't know what happened." Ratchet said perplexed.

"Guys, let's focus on the matter at hand, shall we?" D-Va said. Ratchet nodded and got to work. No time to waste pondering.

XXXXXXX

Jazz leapt from tree to tree with agility and mobility that betrayed his size. He kept the helicopter in his sights and waited for the right moment to strike the gunship. So when he saw it falter for only s few seconds, he saw his chance.

The Autobot leapt from the tree line and lunged at the gunship, terrifying the soldier mounted at the turret and making him open fire. The incendiary bullets dug into Jazz's metal skin but he didn't even flinch as he punch the turret and the gunman, knocking the man out and breaking his arms in the process. He clung to the side of the gunship and made it lose its balance in the air and begin to spin.

Jazz pulled himself up and reached into the chopper, grabbing the crate one scared soldier was holding onto and jumping off, giving them a cocky smirk just as he disappeared into the jungle.

The pilot of the gunship cursed as he saw their target get away with their prize. After gaining control of the gunship he looked back to see that one of soldiers was out cold with two painfully mangled arms and the other shivering in the corner looking like he soiled himself. Poor bastard probably did.

He groaned and turned the gunship around to fly to the rendezvous point. General Aries was going to have their heads for this.

XXXXXXX

Sparkplug grunted as he hit the ground in a daze and struggled to jump away just as another explosion knocked him off his feet once more. Jolt was pelting Aries with his cannons but the armored general kept him at bay with his attacks.

Three gunships outfitted with hellfire missiles were unleashing an onslaught on the Autobots. Optimus and Prowl were covered in burns and holes from where the missiles and armor piercing bullets hit them. Bumblebee was conscious but weakened, with a hole in his chest where Aries' beam hit him. Scorched and warped armor surrounded the wound and sometimes spurted out sparks.

Soldiers were hooking the crate back onto the tow cables and were raising the cargo back up towards the airship. Everything was going well until they got a nasty surprise.

"Sir, we have another problem!"

"The next words from your mouth better be something good or you'll be meeting whatever god you worship within the next ten seconds!" Aries growled. He was not in the mood right now for anything going wrong.

The private swallowed his whimper and gave him the bad news. "Sir, we just got word from Beta team, they lost the package."

Aries inhaled sharply through his nose and closed his eyes. "Pull me up, Private. We're leaving with our prize."

"Roger."

Another cable came down and Aries stepped onto it. Jolt transformed and tried to head him off in the air, but Aires fired his beam that exploded and blaster Jolt from the sky. He looked over at Optimus, who stared right back at him a she vanished from sight.

When Aries reached the gondola and made his way to the pilot cockpit, he was met with another piece of bad news.

"Sir, we've lost contact with our forces! Something's wrong with our systems!"

"It's the virus, it's been sent back to us!" the pilot reported. Aries' eyes went wide and he leaned in.

"Stop it before it reaches us!"

"It's no use sir, it's already-"

The electronic controls suddenly began shorting out and the airship began going out of control in the air. The pilots had to take manual control as their auto-pilot was deactivated. Down below he saw the tow cable lose their grip on the crate and watched it fall to the ground, for good this time. And there was not time to get it back before the gunships ran out of ammo and the Autobots made their move.

"All units we're pulling out. Disengage and rendezvous at point grid omega." He ordered. Everyone looked at him in shock and one of the privates from earlier made his protests known.

"Sir, we can't just leave without the cargo! We have tem on the ropes, to run would be nothing short of cowardice!" He said. Aries looked at him then nodded.

"Your opinion is noted, Private." Then in a single movement he slashed his heat rod and took the man's head off in one clean stroke. The headless corpse collapsed to the floor, the stump smoking and sizzling. "Would anyone else like to fill his shoes?"

No one said anything.

"Good, now follow my orders and pull out of the area."

Aries looked outside the window and at the Autobots. There will be other battles, other chances to get at least one of them. After all, Gaia worked in mysterious ways.

When the gunships and mecha taks made their exit and were gone from view, Optimus walked over to Sparkplug and Jolt and knelt down. "Are you two alright?"

"Yes, we're fine. A bit beaten and bruised but nothing to worry about." Sparkplug said. "I'm just glad that they didn't get any of our cargo."

"Jazz what's your status?" Optimus asked over the comm.

" _We're fin on our end to boss bot. they turned tail and ran home."_

"Good. Ratchet we need a ground bridge and medical aid for Bumblebee on the double."

XXXXXXX

Back at the Ark, the Autobots who were severely wounded in the battles were in the med bay taking their turns in the CR chambers. Those that weren't wounded got to work on salvaging anything from the Exodus that could be useful to them and was still operational.

Optimus, some of the Autobots and the Minicons were all gathered around the object that OZ tried to steal. A large metal cube with multiple cybertronian glyphs carved into its hide. It gave off a faint but warm feeling that could be felt by those who were near it.

"So those OZ goons tried to steal this thing?" Ironhide frowned. The cube was barely as tall as his waist.

"This cube was very important to our continued survival on other worlds." Sparkplug said and ran a hand along the warm surface. "It's a proto-cube. We found these inside Luna-1's tunnel system. They are made from cybermatter born from our moons."

"We were supposed to use them to grant us blank protoforms in the situation that we needed to perform emergency spark transfers." Rollbar explained.

The Autobots looked down at them surprised. Protoforms were embryonic cybertronians born from the birth metal and sparks that were harvested after Vector Sigma ignited a hot spot full of sparks.

Blanks were protoforms without a spark, grown with outside help to full size and were little more than featureless mannequins that required a spark in order to take shape into a cybertronian. Such individuals born this way were Cold Constructed. But the cybermatter to make them was usually taken from the Sonic Canyons, not these cubes.

"And you never thought to tell us of these cubes?" Prowl inquired frowning. Sparkplug glared up at him.

"I didn't think it was anything worth mentioning. I didn't think we needed to run our issues by you." Sparkplug replied. Optimus placed a hand on Prowl's shoulder to get him to back off.

"What matters is that we have completed our objective today. But there is still the matter of humans knowing of our existence." Optimus said solemnly. "OZ has made it clear that they intend to use us to achieve their goals, whatever they are. A third side has entered into this war for Terra, and they are a clear and present threat to Autobots and Decepticons alike."

Optimus Prime looked at his team with a grim expression. "We are all targets now."

XXXXXXX

Aries sat a dark room devoid of light save for the computer screen he was staring at. His armor was of now, leaving him clad in a tight leather body suit that hugged his muscular frame, watching the footage of their previous encounter with the Autobots, more specifically Optimus Prime.

"Gods with bodies of metal, falling from the heavens to grace us lowly mortals. You claim to protect humanity, but is humanity really worth saving in its present state. Oh Optimus if you could see just how savage humans could be, would you still fight for them?" Aries muttered. "Or would you leave them to wallow in their own filth?"

The door slid open and in walked a young woman dressed in the same bodysuit as Aries, but this one showed off her sinful curves. She was beautiful, with pale skin, long silky black hair and ebony black eyes. Her black painted lips were upturned in a smile as she leaned against Aries shoulders.

"I take it that things didn't go as planned?" She asked sweetly. Aries shoved her arms off and kept watching the footage.

"No, they did not. But we did learn more about our visitors." He said. "They are strong, but their pacifist habits will get them killed."

"So? More metal for the scrap-yard then." The woman laughed. Aries grunted and looked up at her, his third eye shining an ominous gold.

"What do you want Aquarius?"

"Orders from our comrades at the Ouranos base. They want us to begin mobilizing against the cybertronians." Aquarius said and leaned on the desk. "It's about time, really. Watching the ass of a jeep is not my forte."

"There is no shame in learning about our enemy. They are not to be underestimated, Aquarius. They will be ready for us next time." He told her.

"And so will we."

She pressed a button and the blinds over the window slowly rose up to reveal a view overlooking a lad area, and I the middle of the room was a large metal cube, one that was pilfered from the Exodus three years ago under the cover of darkness. Cables were hooked up to it, and scientists were moving about deciphering the data acquired from the cube.

"They will fight but in the end they will die," Aquarius said. "And we will obtain the means to evolve this Terra into a pure world. All in the name of our White Queen."


	11. Absent Heroes

Chapter 11-Abesent Heroes

It was early morning in the Dakote National Forest when the dark sky turned into a bright canvas of oranges and yellows before turning into a dark blue. The cold night air warmed up and the sleeping wildlife of the forest slowly awakened to the dawn of a new day. It was one of nature's greatest sights.

High Wire woke up from his recharge and sat up in the makeshift sleeping bag he was given the night before despite his protests. He looked down to see Darren just now waking up as well. The duo were sitting inside the tent, which was getting the full blast of the sunlight streaming through the treetops.

"Good morning Darren." High Wire said.

"Morning High Wire." Darren said groggily. He sat up in his sleeping bag and yawned. "Had a good sleep?"

"I did, granted I could've done without the sleeping bag." He raised his arm and pulled the torn remains of his bag off the wheel on his arm.

"Blame Annie, she thought it was a good idea." Darren said and crawled out of the tent.

Darren stood up and stretched his stiff muscles, feeling a bit cramped from sleeping next to a Minicon with a wheel on his arm. The fresh morning air helped wake him up and generally helped his mood.

One would think that after nearly getting killed in a forest by Arcee's sister, he would prefer not being in a forest for another few months or so, but he needed some time with other people. People preferably his size. He heard a grunt to his left and turned to see Gina doing some stretches.

The blonde, who was the last person he thought would go camping with him, was wearing a thin sleeveless green shirt, brown shorts and hiking boots. Her hair was tied into a bun and she didn't have her signature glasses on.

In the tent on his right, Annie was also waking up, albeit in a violent manner and was struggling to sit up with Grindor draped over her. She didn't have a good night.

The kids and their Minicons were on a little camping trip. Namely to get away from the chaos of their normal lives, considering all three children had been through some stressful situations in the past month. When they explained their plans to the Autobots, it sparked a rather comical argument.

Optimus, Prowl and Bulkhead were against them going off on their own, as it would make them bigger targets for the Decepticons. Jazz and Bumblebee said otherwise, stating that the kids deserved to have some time to themselves without Autobot interference. Arcee was hesitant on the matter, Ironhide didn't give a damn, and Wheeljack didn't want to get involved.

In the end, Sparkplug was the deal breaker, where he said that the kids should go, but only on the condition that their guardians go along with them. It was a solution that every agreed upon, and later on they would all be slightly embarrassed about making such a big deal about an admittedly minor issue.

Darren exhaled and looked at Gina, who was touching her toes. He blushed as his eyes roamed over her body, noting just how much of an early bloomer she was and how her light clothes clung to her budding figure. He tried to look away but Gina caught him and smiled cheekily.

"Like the view, Darren?" She asked.

"Y-yeah, everything is so clear and sunny. It's nice." Darren coughed.

"Oh come on, Darren, you can't fool me." Gina laughed and strolled over to him. "You're a growing boy, it's only natural that you would start having…thoughts."

Darren groaned. She shouldn't be that good at teasing at her age. It was sinful. Annie climbed out of her tent using the disheveled Grindor as a hand hold and looked at the pair puzzled.

"What did I miss?"

"Darren is trying to strip me with his eyes." Gina said.

"I was not!" He shouted. She giggled and went to wake up Sureshock. This was going to be a fun trip.

XXXXXXX

In another part of the forest, the serenity of nature was cut short when a ground bridge opened up in the middle of a clearing. Out of the portal stepped the Decepticon spymaster, Soundwave in all his glory. He sent the ground bridge away and looked around the little glade he found himself in. some of the animals were looking at him cautiously, but he paid him no mind as I opened his chest compartment.

"Rumble, Frenzy eject." He droned, and two cassettes popped out. "Operation: reconnaissance."

"Hey boss!" rumble grinned up at Soundwave. "What are we looking for?"

"Source of mysterious energy signal within general region. Lazerbeak has been searching the forest for the origin point, but it would be more efficient if more ground is covered."

"Don't worry boss, you can count on me!" rumble saluted , almost knocking himself over with his large hand.

"Quit being a kiss ass bro!" Frenzy said. "Besides, Soundwave knows I'm the one whose gonna find that doohickey for him."

"Hell no, not if I can find it."

"You can't even find your way out of a paper bag, literally!"

"I thought we weren't gonna talk about that you spaz!" Rumble shouted and stalked away. "I'm going, I can't even look at your ugly mug anymore!"

"Ugly? I'm your twin you stupid genius!"

Soundwave had long since tuned the bickering twins out and was communicating with Lazerbeak telepathically. The avian Minicon had been tracking military convoys in the region for two weeks now, and from his knowledge, he knew that there were no official military installations this far into the forest, so he sent his Minicon to scout the region for any covert sign of human habitation.

Lazerbeak has yet to locate the base, but he did have a general location that was worth checking out. Without saying a word, Soundwave walked into the forest, leaving Rumble and Frenzy to their sibling spat in the glade.

XXXXXXX

After getting something to eat, the kids went to a lake that was a little ways off from their campsite. To keep an eye out for any unwanted visitors, Buzzsaw kept watch from the trees. High Wire and Grindor stayed near the edge trying to catch some fish, which was constantly interrupted by Annie dive bombing off a tree into the water.

Gina and Sureshock were watching Darren practice with his powers, telekinetically moving a stream of water around himself. Sureshock noted how much ease he seemed to be doing it compared to all the other times he used his powers.

"You're getting better, Darren. But you've never been one to practice with your powers before." She said. "What changed?"

"Everything, really. What happened with Flamewar has gotten me to be more serious. If something like that happens again, then I want to be ready." He said. He twirled the water stream around his head before sending it to poke Gina in the cheek, making her giggle. "It's easier than I thought it was."

"Of course, you have a power that's limited only by your imagination. And I know an Autobot with the same power as yours." Sureshock said, gaining Darren's attention.

"Who?"

"Elita-1."

"The leader of the Valkyries you told me about?" Gina asked. Sureshock nodded.

"Yes, Elita-1 is a telekinetic, and a really powerful one. I've seen her take on whole platoons of Cons without so much as getting a scratch because she would erect a shield around herself while she mowed them down with her team. I've only seen her fight one time, but it was nothing short of magical."

"Sounds like someone is a bit of a fangirl." Gina teased. Suershock bumped her shoulder and huffed.

High Wire and Grindor sat on a rock just staring down at the lake with their fishing rods.

"Hey." Grindor said.

"Yeah?"

"You catch anything?"

"No." High Wire answered. "You?"

"Nope."

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Grindor groaned.

"Primus this is boring."

"I know." High Wire agreed. They were interrupted by Skyspy, who flew in from the trees and landed on his shoulder, blinking the red light on its camera in a pattern.

"Oh scrap." Grindor hissed and turned to the kids. "Darren, there's someone heading our way!"

"Cheese it!" Annie shouted, and the Minicons took on their alt modes.

The bushes rustled and Darren motioned for the girls to stay put as he went to check it out. Holding his breath, he jumped into the bushes and pushed the person up against a tree. When he got a good look at his target, his eyes widened.

"Kevin?"

"Darren?"

The two boys smiled and high fived each other. Annie and Gina went to greet the dark skinned boy, who was dressed in loose fitting pants and a basketball jersey.

"What are you doing here? I didn't peg you three for spending time in the outdoors." Kevin said.

"We decided to go camping to get away from our…hectic lives." Darren answered. It wasn't exactly a lie, just a little wordplay. "What about you?"

"I…wanted to get away from civilization for a little while, have some time for myself and all that."

"No surprise seeing as you live the life of a child sports celebrity." Gina grinned. "So where's Penny? Is she trying to figure out the mechanics of tent making or did she get lost at the last mud pit?"

"No, nothing like that. She wanted to come but had to work on something with her friend Charlotte." Kevin said. Gina narrowed her eyes but before she could inquire further about her rival, Annie spoke up.

"We were just having a swim over by the lake. You wanna come?" She asked.

"Sorry, I'm heading over to another lake that's much bigger and has better fish." Kevin said.

"Bigger hmm?" Annie glanced back at the transformed Grindor and High Wire. Though they couldn't show it, they were not enthusiastic about having another long and uneventful fishing session.

"Can we come along? It's been so long since we actually spoke to each other alone." Darren said.

"Sure, the more, the merrier."

The three children collected their disguised Minicons and went to follow Kevin through the forest. Their guardians were a bit unsure about letting another human on their trip, but they knew it would only be for a little while.

As Kevin led the way, he spotted something shining in the ground. "What's that?"

He pointed at something shining hidden under a huge boulder. Darren took a closer look and saw that it wasn't natural, it was metal. The transformed Minicons grew worried at this.

"It looks like a metal door. Obviously secret with how shoddily hidden it is." Gina noted. Darren took out his phone.

"We better call the Rangers." He said. Annie gave him a look.

"Are you serious? What's it was made by 'them'?" She said, careful not to give out too much information with Kevin around. If the Decepticons were involved, then it was better to keep as little outside involvement as possible.

Darren nodded and began typing Ratchet's emergency number. Then he noticed that his phone had no signal. "What the…?"

"Freeze!"

The kids froze as they were surrounded by a dozen soldiers pointing rifles at them. Darren felt High Wire move slightly, but squeezed his handle bars to stop him. It wouldn't do them any good to start a fight right now. A red haired woman dressed in a black military uniform stepped to the front.

"What are you kids doing here on military property?" She asked.

"Military property?" Gina echoed. "Doesn't that usually have barbed wire fences and signs that say keep out?"

"You know, to keep shit like this from happening?" Annie said snidely, more annoyed than scared. The woman glared at her.

"Major Keller," Another soldier walked up to her. He was much older and from the way he held himself, much higher ranked than her as well. "We must take them in."

"What? But they're children!" Keller said, glaring at him. "You can't seriously think that they're spies, Lancer!"

"Two of the most dangerous espers in Karaba are barely older then eighteen. I'm not taking any chances." Lancer motioned for his men to move in. "Take them into custody."

Kevin groaned while Darren shared a tired glance with the girls. This was just typical of a normal day for the Autobots' friends.

Up in the trees, Lazerbeak was watching the whole thing and inwardly smiled. He sent a thought wave to his master.

'Soundwave, Lazerbeak has found our quarry.'

XXXXXXX

Seeing as it was a secret base, the kids were blindfolded as they were brought inside. As far as they knew from the loud metallic echoes and the feeling of the floor moving, they were taking a large elevator underground. The Minicons were able to take in every detail so they could break the kids out if they need to.

The kids were brought into a closed holding cell while the Mincons were taking to storage with the other vehicles. Once inside, the blindfolds were taken off and they were left alone.

They were each taking the situation differently. Darren and Kevin were calm, while Gina was stressing a bit about how she was too young to go to jail, and Annie was just plain pissed.

"Of course this happens on our freaking camping trip," She grumbled. "Can't go a day without someone trying to screw us over. Be it human or otherwise."

"Annie, calm down. If they let us talk to someone, then maybe we can get them to see this as a misunderstanding." Darren said. Annie looked at him like he was stupid.

"These guys are secret military black ops with no one to put a leash on them. What makes you think that they won't pull some 'we don't exist' bullshit to justify keeping us here?"

Darren sighed and was going to reply when the door opened and the woman from earlier, Keller, walked in.

"I think we got off on the wrong foot." She said kindly. "My name is Cole Keller. There's no need to be afraid, I just need to know how much you've learned and…"

"Spare us the good cop routine sister." Annie sneered. "We're in a military base god knows how many feet underground that's supposed to be camouflaged, though a five year old could find this place, and you expect us to calm down? Girl, you buddy up there seems like the kind of guy who would lock us up just to keep us quiet, whether we like it or not."

An awkward silence followed, then Kevin said, "What she said."

Cole stared at her. "You're a wordy little brat aren't you?"

"No more than you." Annie shot back.

Cole sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. These kids were not as naïve as she thought. They certainly guessed how Lancer would act to the situation.

"Look, I can get you guys out of here safe and sound, but I need you to cooperate with me here."

"Or else what?"

"Annie shut up!"Gina hissed.

"Or else you'll be locked up for the rest of your natural lives. Frederick Lancer is as paranoid as they come, and is more stubborn than a British boxer." Cole walked to the door. "Now just sit tight and let me handle this."

She left the cell and Darren whacked his sister upside the head.

"First off, don't act like a damn badass to a military officer you moron!" He hissed.

Annie just pushed him aside and rammed her shoulder against the door. Te door didn't even flinch and the girl was nursing her shoulder.

"Yeah, because that's going to work." Gina said.

"Well if my brother chooses to get off his ass, then we could be out of this taco stand in a heartbeat."

Darren glared at her and glanced worriedly at Kevin, he could break the door, but his fear of Kevin learning his secret was just too great. It wasn't worth losing his friend over something he could easily hide. Gina patted his shoulder and sat on the bench.

"Let's just sit here and wait. I'm sure something will happen and soon we'll all be out of here."

XXXXXXX

Soundwave stood in the forest watching as another military armored vehicle drove into the hatch built into the side of the mountain. Lazerbeak stood on his shoulder, waiting for his master's command.

This is where the energy reading was coming from. They were faint and quite possibly deep underground. But it was nothing of consequence to him. They would never know he was coming.

"Lazerbeak, operation: infiltration." Lazerbeak nodded and flew off his shoulder.

Soundwave's then began to transform into his alt mode, though his reconfiguration was unique. Whereas other cybertronians could only transform into alt modes that were around the same size and mass as them, people like Soundwave were unique in that they could also control their bodies on a sub-atomic level, enabling them to grow larger or smaller. Within seconds in place of a giant robot was a tiny palm sized cassette recorder.

Lazerbeak cawed and picked Soundwave up in his claws before flying over to the base. He circled around in the air before seeing another armored truck approach the base. He flew in lower and waited for them to pass under some trees and dropped the transformed Soundwave into the back of the truck.

He perched himself on a branch and watched as the truck drove into the hatch with his master and fellow Minicons. The humans had no idea that they just let their death in through the front door.

XXXXXXX

Sean McCourie sat at his desk in the base's research center reading a comic book that he managed to smuggle in a few days ago. It was a bit boring being stationed here, and he had no one to blame but himself as he was the one to volunteer for the job.

Working security duty for a bunch of tech heads fooling around with a power source that could lead to another Three Mile Island disaster if they so much as poked it the wrong way was not a job that people were lining up to offer up their services.

He heard the door open and saw the only reason he stayed down in this depressing dump. Cole was his partner and the only person who actually acted like they had some common sense around here. They had joined Skywatch as a pair brought over the main army and were deeply entrenched in the secret activities that not even the president knew about.

"What did Freddy do this time?" Sean asked with a smirk.

"Overreact like he always does. Some kids found our base and he just took them in thinking they might be spies or something." Cole huffed in frustration and slumped in the chair next to him. "I knew that not putting up signs was a bad idea. The fact that it was a bunch of kids only makes it more embarrassing."

"So did you go down there to calm the brats down?"

"Didn't need to, those kids were stone cold, and one of them even mouthed off at me." She said. Sean whistled and she grinned. "I know, those kids certainly knew how to stay calm."

"Almost a little too calm, Major." Frederick Lancer walked into the room. Cole scowled and stood up.

"You bastard, you can't just snatch kids up whenever you want! What if they're parents start looking for them?"

"I am doing what I have to for national security. Those children nearly exposed out entire operation." Frederick replied coolly.

"They aren't even a threat you moron! You're just making the situation worse. They're innocent!" Cole growled.

She didn't like Frederick's methods of maintaining Skywatch's secrecy. He knew that they worked outside the chain of command and used that fact to do morally grey things. He was sure that he'd have the kids shot without her watching his every move.

"Innocent you say? Then take a look at this." He walked over to a computer and began typing on it. "You recall when I showed you and McCourie the "Ice Man" when you were promoted, yes?"

"Of course, it's hard to forget a sight like that." Sean said,

"The giant was emitting a certain radiation from its body that made it easily detectable. Now watch the infrared security footage of those children."

Sean and Cole looked at the footage of the children being brought in. Through the camera they saw that their vehicles were emitting a heat signature that should only be emanating from living creatures.

"Well I'll be damned." Sean muttered.

"And I had one of my men scan the cell they were held up in after you left Keller. They were covered in the same radiation that the Ice Man was giving off." Frederick looked at her smugly. "They know something, maybe even had a close encounter. And I intend to find out."

Frederick walked out of the room in a cocky stride that infuriated her to no end. Cole punched the computer and went to follow him.

"Whoa where are you going?" Sean asked.

"To stop that son of a bitch before he does something stupid."

Sean watched her go before following after her as well, partly because he wanted to keep her from killing the man, and also because he wanted a front row seat to the fireworks that were about to go off.

This left the computer room empty, save for a tiny micro cassette that pushed the door open. It crawled along the floor on four thin spider-like legs as it approached one of the computers. A large cord shot from its bottom and used it as a rope to pull itself on to the desk. Once up there, it skittered over to the monitor and plugged into the machine.

Soundwave's interface with the computer was instantaneous and within seconds his mind was connected to the base's systems. The first thing he did was download a map of the base and learn where the location of that power source was.

Then he came upon something interesting. The files of this organization, Skywatch, spoke of research into alien technology, mostly weaponry of course. He dug a little deeper and saw some files that spoke of a huge metal man trapped in ice dubbed "Ice Man". The first thing that came to mind, was that these humans have a cybertronian in custody and they were aware of their general existence, but not of the Autobots or Decepticons online today. He tried to probe deeper but anything pertaining to images or even the Ice Man's identity but the firewalls protecting the information would take too long to break. For now he would have to be satisfied with what he learned. Now it was time to get what he came for, and to eliminate any witnesses.

"Rumble, Frenzy, Ravage, eject. Operation: search and destroy."

XXXXXXX

The kids were not having a very good time. Nearly thirty minutes had passed and they were beyond bored and annoyed at their current situation. It didn't help that Gina was making strange noises with her mouth.

"What are you doing?" Kevin asked.

"Well, since we're in a jail cell. I thought it would be prudent to act the part of the prisoner with a harmonica. And since I don't have a harmonica, I need to improvise."

Annie looked at her and shook her head. "God you're sad."

Their boredom was abruptly cut short when the door was opened and the man from earlier walked in, with Cole close behind him.

"Did you finally decide to grace us with your presence, of king under the mountain?" Darren said snidely. His mood hadn't improved either.

"Make all the quips that you want, boy. But we know all about your little secret." Frederick grinned. Darren narrowed his eyes.

"What are you talking about?" Kevin asked.

"Trying to play innocent eh? Fine them, I'll be blunt." You children have been in contact with NBEs; Non-biological Extraterrestrials. And I don't know, or care, if you were aware that you just brought three NBEs in disguised as you vehicles."

"What? Is this a joke? We don't know about any aliens!" Kevin said.

"You may not, but your friends might know." He continued. Seeing them give no reaction, he decided to tip his hand. "I guess if you really don't know then you wouldn't mind if I subject those rides of yours to some tests."

"Like hell we will you raisin skinned freak!" Annie shouted. "You aren't laying a finger on them!"

"Annie!" Gina hissed. Frederick gave Cole a smirk.

"I told you so." He turned back to the kids. "Tell us everything you know and we'll let you all go. There's no point in hiding anything from us."

"We're not saying anything." Darren stepped up to Frederick, who didn't even look that worried.

"Either you tell us willingly or we'll force it out of you. It doesn't matter to me." He threatened.

"That's enough Frederick!"

"Maybe we should start with that motor mouth girl. I'm sure you have a lot to say." He sneered.

Darren's eyes went cold and he clenched his fists, the metal panels at his feet began to warp as he prepared to bash Frederick's had against the wall. But that never happened as the whole base shook from distant explosions.

"What the hell was that?" Cole shouted. A soldier ran into the cell covered in sweat.

"Sirs, we're under attack. Some giant robot cat is rampaging through the facility!"

'Ravage.' The name ran through the minds of Darren, Gina and Annie.

Frederick scowled and pushed Cole aside. "Block all exits and man the mecha tanks! Lockdown the base!" he glanced at the children. "And put guards to watch them. If they try to escape shoot them!"

Frederick was gone, and Cole gave the children an apologetic glance and also exited the cell. The door was shut closed and they were alone once again.

XXXXXXX

When the Street Action felt the explosions, they wasted no time in transforming.

"What was that?" Sureshock asked.

"Not sure, but it sounds like this place is under attack." High Wire said.

"Who cares? We need to find the kids and haul ass!" Grindor yelled.

They were interrupted when a squad of soldiers ran into the storage room and pointed their weapons at the Minicons.

"Freeze!"

High Wire made an uncharacteristically frustrated sound and turned to his team. "We don't have time for this! We need to combine."

His friends nodded and before the astonished soldiers' eyes the three bots reconfigured and combined into a much taller thirteen foot tall gestalt-Centurion. He looked down at the soldiers and slammed his fists together.

"Move aside!" He shouted in his amalgamated voice.

The soldiers simply opened fire on the gestalt. Centurion ignored the bullets bouncing off his armor and sped forward. His large form barreled into the soldiers without a care and rushed down the hallway. He needed to find his friends!

XXXXXXX

The kids' cell shook again as the sounds of explosions and men shouting could be heard from the outside.

"Could someone please tell me what is going on? What was all that about aliens and stuff before?" Kevin asked.

The others gave each other glances and Gina stepped forward. "Kevin, can you keep a secret?"

"Yes, I guess so."

"Okay then," She took a deep breath and began her tale. "A few months ago we stumbled upon a race of alien robots from another planet who crashed landed on Terra 4 million years ago. They're involved in a civil war between the Autobots and Deepticons. The nice guys protecting us are Autobots and the evil guys are the Decepticons. The bad robots attacking the base are Decepticons, and if we don't get out of here now, then they'll kill us along with everyone else here. You catch all that?"

"Y-yeah. Autobots good, Decepticons bad, get the hell out of dodge before we get killed. Got it."

"Good, then I hope you can keep another secret, because Darren's going to get us out of here."

Darren glanced at Kevin before moving to the door. He placed his palms on the door and let his power grab hold of the metal, roughly wrenching the screws out of place and violently flinging the door outward, letting it slam against the opposite wall. The guards posted outside were caught off guard and so they weren't able to react when Darren split the door in half and hit them in the face with the metal pieces, knocking them out with broken noses.

Annie whistled as she saw the damage. "Nice to see you stepping up to the plate bro."

"I'm so glad I've earned your approval." Darren retorted it. Kevin looked at him with wide eyes.

"You're an esper?" He breathed. Darren nodded slowly.

"Yeah, I am. I didn't tell you because…well, you know." He shrugged. "So, are you mad?"

"Me? Oh god no! I'm actually relieved!" Kevin laughed. "Now I don't have to hide myself!"

"Wait what!"

Two more soldiers ran down the hall and saw the kids free and the men unconscious on the floor. They pointed their rifles at the kids. "Stop right there!"

Darren moved to take them out, but Kevin pushed him aside and ran forward. He was about to ask what he was doing but lost is voice when he saw Kevin punch his hand forward and a stream of fire come rushing towards the soldiers, forcing them to jump back.

When the flames died down, Annie ran forward and elbowed the first man in the throat. She punched him hard in the nose and the pain made him go out like a light. His partner made to take her down but Darren sent a force blast that slammed into him and blasted him into a wall in the opposite hall.

"Nice work." Gina smiled. It was nice to know that her friends could kick ass whenever they wanted.

"Let's find the exit and get the hell out of here." Kevin said.

"But we still need to find the Minicons. They have no idea where we are." Annie said.

"They'll find us. They know where we are, so we just need to stay put." Darren told her.

An explosion went off down the hall and they saw a man crash to the floor, his uniform torn to shreds and sporting wounds that were bleeding profusely. He was dead. Then a large dark form stalked around the corner, looking at the children with beady red eyes.

It was Ravage.

XXXXXXX

The entire base was in chaos as it was attacked on multiple fronts inside its halls. Frederick and Cole were running to the research center where their experimental weapons and resources were located. Why they were heading there was a mystery for Cole, as she thought that they should be leading their personnel instead of leaving them to fend for themselves.

"They're soldiers Keller!" Frederick growled at her when she voiced her misgivings. "They trained for this. They know how to take care of themselves! Right now we have more important matters to worry about like our prototype!"

Cole really hated that man. His holier than thou attitude because he was friendly with the director pissed her off, his willingness to toss his subordinates to the wolves even more so.

" _Major!"_ A voice shouted from the radio. " _We've got a problem!"_

Frederick cursed and grabbed his radio. "What's the situation soldier?"

" _It's the kids! They've escaped!"_

"What? How did that happen?! I posted two armed guards there!"

" _Two of them are espers sir. They used their powers to break free and now they're heading for the armory, and one of the black robots are following them. They're tearing the base apart!"_

"Find and capture those brats as fast as you can! I will not let civilians, let alone those esper freaks, get away with classified knowledge! Capture or kill soldier!"

" _Yes sir!"_

Cole didn't even bother trying to convice Frederick otherwise. She let him run off before calling Sean. "Sean, you there?"

" _Yeah, what's up?"_

"Those kids escaped and now they're loose in the base. Find them and get them out of here."

" _What? But what about Freddy?"_

"He's sent out a capture or kill order on them. You need to find them first and get them to safety. Understand?"

" _You got it Cole."_

The research center was isolated from the rest of the base, and anyone with the clearance to get in needed to wear a protective suit as a pre-caution, as the elements they were dealing with were potentially dangerous.

Frederick ran over the mangled bodies of the science team, the men and women unlucky enough to be in the robot's way. He pushed through the doors and into the main lab, where he stopped short at what he saw.

It was Soundwave, standing tall in his full glory in robot mode. For a moment Frederick stared at him in awe, unable to comprehend what he saw. It was him, a relative of the Ice Man! So there were others like him! It took him a minute to realize that Soundwave was reaching towards a glowing metal sphere encased in a bullet proof glass casing. Frederick shook himself from his stupor and raised his rocket launcher.

"That engine is Skywatch property machine!" He shouted.

He fired the rocket and watched as it exploded against Soundwave's face. The spymaster stumbled to the side a bit, but still remained standing. When the smoke cleared, it showed that he was unharmed save for the blackened armor on the side of his face.

"Frenzy, terminate." He ordered.

Frederick was puzzled, until he heard something drop down behind him and turned around just in time to see Frenzy run his drill arm through his chest and out his back. He coughed up blood as his organs were turned to mush immediately and he lost the feeling in his legs.

Frenzy grinned at the dying man and pulled his arm out with a sickening squelch to let him fall to the ground.

"That was fun." Frenzy said. "So what now boss?"

Soundwave held the engine in his hand, feeling the heat rise from it. This is advanced technology, much too advanced for the primitive humans to ever harness.

"Now we retreat. Ravage and Rumble will eliminate any witnesses." He said.

XXXXXXX

Cole ran down a route that led to the hangar, where the kids were hopefully located and in one piece. She wanted to believe that Sean had met up with them and were already out, but after seeing how many of their numbers were already killed by the robots, she was starting to have doubts.

She had to pass through the armory to reach the hangar, and the closer she got to her destination the more bodies littered the halls. People she once fought besides and spoke with daily were either mangled or crushed beyond recognition. It really angered her, but she kept her objective in mind.

When she reached the armory, she saw that the place was a mess. The gun racks were destroyed, rocket launchers and warheads scattered about the place in pieces and the floor was littered with the bodies of soldiers who weren't fast enough to get to their weapons. In the middle of the room was Sean, who was struggling in the grip of a blue robot with large clawed arms. She saw that he was on the verge of being snapped in half.

"Get away from him!" Cole grabbed a machine gun and opened fire. Her aim was precise enough that she avoided hitting Sean and caught the robot off guard and made him drop the man. The bullets didn't do serious damage, but it did piss him off.

"What the…?" Rumble looked at Cole as if she insulted him. "Did you just shoot me?"

"What the hell do you think tin man?" Cole shouted. Rumble grinned and stalked towards her.

"Wrong move fleshy."

Rumble slammed his pile driver hands into the floor and released a shockwave the rippled through the room. In such a small space, the attack blasted both Sean and Cole away with mind numbing force. She hit the wall with a loud thus and fell to the floor dazed. When she got her bearings, she saw Rumble's tall form looming over her, his claws poised over her head.

"When I smashed the skulls of those other humans, they made a cracking sound, like a nut." He sneered down at her and reached to grab her head. "I wonder if yours would sound the same?"

Just as he touched her head, a large form barreled into Rumble and sent him flying into the wall. Cole looked up and saw a large robot with different colored body parts. Body parts that she recognized as the rides the kids brought into the base with them.

'Frederick was right!' She thought amazed. Centurion looked down at her with an impassive gaze.

"Stay there." He ordered her and then leapt at Rumble.

Cole crawled over to Sean who was watching Centurion beat down Rumble like he was at a movie. She saw that he was alright and watched the battle herself.

"I never thought I would be seeing this in my lifetime. Two robots engaged in a death match with each other." Sean said mildly and turned to Cole. "That big one is on our side right?"

"Possibly, but I doubt it's happy to see us."

Centurion lifted Rumble above him slammed him into the floor head first with enough strength to knock the Mini-Con out and make a dent in the floor. He let Rumble's body slump against the wall and turned to the two humans. Then Centurion stalked towards Sean and Cole, who pointed their rifles at him.

"That's as far as you go, big guy. We don't want any trouble." Sean said.

"Where are the children?" Centurion asked in a tight voice. Sean and Cole glanced at each other.

"Who wants to know?" Cole asked. She wasn't going to give those children to a potentially murderous robot.

Centurion grabbed Cole and pinned her against the wall. Sean fired some shots at him but it barely even irritated the gestalt, who was losing his patience fast.

"Those children are under my protection. You will tell me where they are or so me human or not I will make you regret ever seeing me." Centurion growled.

Cole grunted as she fought to get free but could not do anything in the gestalt's iron grip. Seeing she had no other choice, she nodded. "Okay. We can take you to them. But they're in trouble."

"Then you better hope that we can get to them in time." Centurion did not care about not harming humans. He had only one objective and that was the safety of the children.

XXXXXXX

The hangar was a wide open area where the armored convoys, humvees, and even Talos mecha tanks were stored. There was a hatch that led to the surface, where they would drive through upon entering the facility.

The kids were running through the corridor that led to the hangar. They managed to spread out into the room, but Darren was the last one in. Ravage nearly bowled right into him and knocked him to the ground with the jaguar Minicon glaring at him.

"You will die first, strange one." Ravage growled. He ran at Darren, but a fireball to the face knocked him over.

Kevin was shooting flames repeatedly at Ravage, trying to get him to stay down. The flames licked at Ravage's armor, but the pain only made him angrier. He lunged at Kevin, only to be hit by a force blast from Darren. The two espers combined their powers in a brutal assault that actually forced Ravage to go on the defensive.

"Wow, they're actually beating him." Gina breathed. Darren had come a long way from a few months ago, when he barely used his powers. And Kevin was a master at his abilities, seemingly mixing his martial arts with his pyrokinesis.

"Yeah, but he's not going down." Annie pointed out.

She looked around the hangar and saw a dozen mecha tanks that were across from them. She nudged Gina and nodded at the machines. Gina normally wouldn't try such a thing, but considering it was a life or death situation, she was willing to do anything to win.

'What is this thing made of?' Kevin thought as he shot fire at Ravage like a flamethrower. He and Darren were pelting the Con with attacks but he just wouldn't stay down.

Ravage tried to lunge at Kevin but a strong force blast from Darren hit him right in the jaw, knocking a tooth out. He sneered at the boy and roared. "Enough!"

He fired one of the missiles at his waist at the boys, who jumped apart just as it blew up an armored truck. The explosion blasted Darren into the grill of a humvee, where he fell to the ground in pain. He pushed himself up and saw Ravage stalking towards him through the flames like some kind of hell cat.

"Oh no you don't!"

A black mecha tank rammed into Ravage and sent him crashing into truck. Darren was puzzled as he saw the Talos fire its arm-mounted turret at Ravage and pelt him with bullets that tore into his armor. He also saw Annie hanging onto the machine's left arm.

"Gina?" He breathed.

"This is so awesome!" Gina cackled. Annie banged her hand on the camera head.

"Stop crewing around and take him out!"

"Alright, alright, I'm doing it." Gina looked at the controls. Moving the mecha tank was easy enough, if a bit hard to handle, but she was getting a feel for it. The foot pedals controlled the movement of the Talos and the joysticks controlled the arms and weapons, which was an arm-mounted gun turret and a shoulder-mounted cannon. She was cycling through the weapons when she saw Ravage get back up, she pressed the trigger button on the left joystick.

A missile was fired from one the shoulder-cannon and hit Ravage in the shoulder just as he lunged at them. It blew off his arm, but also sent his body crashing into the mecha tank. Gina screamed as the machine began to fall over, forcing Annie to jump off as it crashed to the ground.

"Children!" Centurion came running into the hangar. "I am here to save…you?"

He thought that they were in danger, but upon seeing the damaged and unconscious Ravage made him think otherwise. Annie and Kevin were helping Gina out of the tipped over mecha tank while Darren was sitting on a truck rubbing his aching back. Looking over at Centurion, Darren gave him a weak little wave.

"Hey," He panted. "What took you so long?"

XXXXXXX

Soundwave walked out of the elevator hatch that he destroyed to get out. He had the sphere in one hand and the damaged Ravage in the other. Rumble and Frenzy were in his chest compartment recharging.

The mission was a success, and he learned much more than he thought would. This Skywatch organization needs to be looked into further, for they may be another foe worth noting in Megatron's campaign on this world.

They couldn't have wild cards this late in the game. All threats must be identified and neutralized accordingly.

XXXXXXX

Outside the base, it was late in the afternoon and Centurion was carrying the children up a hill overlooking the hidden facility. He set Darren and Kevin down by the trees and separated into the three Minicons again.

"So," Darren said. "You're an esper."

"Yeah. Sorry I hid it from you." Kevin apologized. "It's not exactly something I want to have advertized to the whole town. I was out camping so I could do some training by the lake so I wouldn't burn the whole forest down."

"I know how you feel. Hey, does anybody else know about your powers?"

"Only my mom and Penny." At Darren's look, he nodded. "Yeah, she's like my sidekick when it comes to this. She helps me deal with my powers."

"You learn new things every day." Darren smiled. Kevin smiled back and gave him a fist bump.

"Thanks for the save guys." Gina smiled and hugged Sureshock. "It's good to see you're all okay."

"Please girl, we're Centurion. It'll take more than a bunch of humans to beat us." Grindor laughed.

"We're just happy that you four are in one piece." High Wire said.

"How did you find us anyway?" Annie asked.

"That red head from earlier pointed us in your direction." Grindor answered. "She was planning on getting you out of there but sent us instead."

"Really? Huh, that's nice of her." Gina muttered and looked back at the base. Thinking back to all the dead soldiers they passed, she asked, "Do you think they're alright? I mean, Rumble and Frenzy did a number on them."

"Alive or dead, I don't care. They can burn." Annie said coldly. Everyone looked at her shocked.

"Annie, don't say that." Darren said.

"Why not? Those bastards threatened us and the Minicons, who we were supposed to keep a secret. Remember that little tidbit bro? Did you forget that no one was supposed to know about the Autobots?" Annie glared down at her brother and walked deeper into the forest. "What happened was nothing short of karma. They had it coming to them, and you better hope that they don't come knocking on our door tomorrow."

She was gone from sight, and Grindor went after her. Gina exhaled sharply and turned back to the destroyed base. No matter what the others say, she hoped that Agent Keller got out of their safely. No one deserved to die like this.

XXXXXXX

"Dear god." Cole gasped. "This is everyone who survived?"

"Yeah. At least the ones who weren't in their way." Sean said solemnly.

They stood in the medical center, where the people who survived the massacre assembled. Half had made it out unscathed, but the other half, who were mainly soldiers, were severely wounded. All in all, they were beaten badly.

"So we've lost about half our personnel and Frederick, and the evil robots got what they wanted along with god knows what else." Sean sighed. "Hey, did those kids get out okay?"

"Yeah, I'm sure they did. That thing would've made sure of it." Cole answered.

She wasn't planning on telling her superiors about them. She wasn't going to get them caught up in a mess like this again, no matter how much they knew of the aliens on Terra. But somehow, she knew that they would meet again in the future.

Cole just hoped it was on better terms.


	12. Argonautica

Chapter 12-Argonautica

Darren and Kevin stood side by side dressed in workout clothes and both in fighting stances. Across the sparring room was D-Va, who was twirling around a laser staff, looking at the boys with a coy smirk.

"You sure you two want to do this?" She asked. "I may be a pretty face, but I'm no slouch when it comes to combat."

"We're going to have to fight Minicons sometimes, better to prepare for it now then regret not doing it later." Darren said.

"And who better to train with than our very own superstar?" Kevin smirked and lit some flames on his shoulders. "You ready?"

"Always." D-Va got into her stance. They waited a moment, waiting for the other to make their move, and then Darren went first.

He ran forward and slashed his arms, tearing up strips of metal from the floor and sent them at her. D-Va flipped over them and leapt forward, swinging her staff in a wide arc that forced Darren to jump back to avoid getting hit in the head.

Kevin stepped in and punched some fireballs at her to force her back and did a sweeping kick that released a wide arc of flames towards her. In an amazing feat of agility, she dodged and flipped over the attacks gracefully, before doing a series of front flips to close the distance between her and Kevin.

Kevin gritted his teeth and shot more flames at her, but she ducked under his arms and knocked his legs from under him with her staff. Darren flung more pieces of metal at her, but she also dodged those and ran at him. When she was close enough, Darren raised his arms and willed the metal plating under her to lurch upward and send her flying.

He pulled the staff from her hands, but D-Va landed behind him and grabbed his arm. Darren yelped as he was flipped over her shoulder and slammed to the floor. The pink Minicon smirked down at him but was forced to lean back to avoid a fireball shot at her. Kevin jumped up and did a spin kick that she ducked under and rolled over to retrieve her staff. He didn't have time to protect himself when she hit him in multiple places with a series of light but painful jabs before kicked him in the chest and pinning him to the ground, pointing her staff at Darren's face to keep him from getting up.

"That's game." D-Va chirped. The boys groaned.

"This is getting really old." Darren sighed. "What's the score now?"

"I don't know I thought you were keeping check." Kevin said.

"It's okay, I got this one. Hey Road Storm!" D-Va called out to their newest addition to the team.

On the sidelines, Road Storm was busy napping, holding his head up on one arm and laying on the floor like a sleeping alien Buddha. The orange and silver Minicon who transformed into a Harley was listening to some music he downloaded (illegally) into his brain. He didn't even notice D-Va until she kicked his arm out and let his head bang into the floor, abruptly waking him up.

"Huh, wha-oh, it's you." He groaned. "What do you want girl? Can't you see a brother trying to sleep?"

"You were supposed to keep score of our matches." She said sternly. He shrugged.

"So? You're just going to win again anyway. Doesn't make a difference if I watch you kick their afts or not."

"Your confidence is invigorating." Kevin droned.

D-Va sighed and rubbed her head. Road Storm was the Minicon from the panel that was almost taken by OZ. He was a strange mech who was either off sleeping in the corner, or on his own trying to find his way on the "road to life" or something equally stupid. The other Minicons tried to get along with him, but his uncaring attitude rubbed some the wrong way. Even the kids found it hard to tolerate the slothful bot. There was only one person who could deal with the low-rider, and that was-

"Yo!" Jazz walked into the room with his usual grin. "How's my favorite little people?"

"Please don't call us that." Darren groaned.

"What's up Jazz? Something exciting happen?" Kevin asked.

His short time with the Autobots was an amazing experience. Talking with these larger than life aliens was something that he would never forget. It just amazed him at how human they seemed to him, like they weren't giants that towered over him but were just regular people with likes and dislikes. Jazz especially he liked, as the Autobot's taste in music was phenomenal.

"We've just found a clue to another Minicon." Jazz said. "And I think it's something you're all going to like."

XXXXXXX

"The Argo?" D-Va questioned.

They were in the command center, where the Autobots were gathered with the Minicons and children. Gina was cycling through some pictures she brought up on the monitor.

Gina explained how the Argo was the flagship of the Argonauts, led by Jason. She said that the ship was built from the wood of a divine tree that whose blessings were believed to protect the crew from evil.

"And guess what they thought was a part of the tree they made the ship from." Annie grinned.

Gina brought up an old painting of the Argo. On the ship's bow was Jason, standing victoriously in front of his men holding up a glowing object that looked familiar. A stasis panel.

"Of course," Ironhide grumbled. "What the hell is that doing there?"

"The humans must have found the panel buried in a tree and thought that it was a gift from the gods." Prowl deduced. "They weren't that far from the truth."

"And it must have really galvanized them, because they were near unbeatable for nearly a decade before the ship finally fell on its return trip to Grecia." Gina said.

"So if we want to find this panel, then we have to find the Argo. That sounds easy enough." Kevin said. She shook her head.

"Except that no one knows where the Argo sank. It was last seen somewhere near the Grecian islands, around Ithica. But that's all I can tell you."

"That's good enough, Gina." Optimus said and looked at his team. "Prowl, Jazz, you're with me. We're going to Ithica to find any clues as to the whereabouts of the Argo."

"Or what's left of it." Jazz added.

"Oooh! Can we come?" Tracer chirped, dragging D-Va along with her. "We never get to see any action!"

"That's because it's dangerous. You know, a word that you've never seem to know the definition of." Prowl said. Tracer pouted.

"Can I come along to?" Kevin asked. The others looked at him.

"You sure about that Kevin? This isn't a field trip. These missions are rough enough just looking for the Minicons." Darren pointed out.

"And that's when we're not having Cons trying to kill us." Annie snorted.

But Kevin was adamant about coming along. "I know it can be dangerous, but I want to go on this mission, even just this once."

"Well, if you're going then I'm going to." Gina said. "There is no way that you guys are discovering a lost mythical ship without my supervision!"

"Gina…" Sureshock wasn't very crazy about the idea. Any concerns she was about to voice were cut off by Tracer throwing an arm around her shoulder.

"Don't worry, Shockblast-"

"Sureshock."

"-We'll take good care of the kiddies. Let us handle the heavy lifting while you sit back and relax those tired old legs of yours."

Sureshock gained a dark look in her eyes. "Old?"

"Well, yes. You do act like a cranky old femme when you get mad, so I just thought that you were a little…out of date. And are those wrinkles around your optics? Wow, you've been around the block haven't you?" Tracer laughed.

"Okay let's get a move on before the trail get's cold shall we?" Jazz said loudly to break the tension.

"That would be best." Sureshock growled.

XXXXXXX

Ithica was a beautiful island that was a part of the Grecian nation, along with other settlements like Scylla, Delos and Lykos. Warm and sunny, the place was almost like a paradise, but the Autobots were not here to enjoy the sights (despite Road Storm's protests). Optimus, Prowl and Jazz split up to explore the city and find out what they can from the locals. Tracer tagged along with Prowl while Kevin and Gina were conducting their own investigation at the harbor.

Road Storm and D-Va were parked near the harbor keeping an eye on Gina and Kevin as they talked to the sailors. Both Minicons had their holomatters engaged; a tall, handsome man who looked like he came from an 80's biker flick for Road Storm, and a cute asian girl with fair skin and long brown hair for D-Va.

"Would you stand still?" She asked her partner, who kept fidgeting in his spot. "You setting me on edge."

"Don't blame me, I don't like this place." Road Storm said frowning. "The streets are so damn narrow, and everything is so cramped together. I can't take it."

"It's nothing to worry about, Road Storm. Just calm down and take it slow." D-Va said. She smiled as she saw a group of children run past her along the cobblestone street. Ithica reminded her a bit of Harmonex, her former home. "Just enjoy what a beautiful day it is."

"I'll enjoy it when I'm on the open road." He grumbled.

Jazz had taken it upon himself to make Road Storm his partner in the field. Of course, the Minicon had the choice to refuse, but he was too lazy to argue with someone as stubborn as Prowl. It was an effort to get him to be more of a team player and associate more with the others, but in D-Va's opinion it was a lost cause. Road Storm made no friends before the launch of the Exodus, and he wasn't making any now.

She saw the kids finish talking to the sailors and waved them over. When they got close enough, she asked, "So any news?"

"There's a cove a few miles from here, it's a place that was on the same route that Argo took thousands of years ago." Gina told them.

"The cove is known for being a place where ships were wrecked. If we're looking for the wreckage of the Argo, it's the place for us." Kevin said.

Road Storm frowned. "Not much to go on."

"It's the only lead we have." D-Va said. "I'll call up the Bots and we can get a move on."

XXXXXXX

"Hurry it up, you fool! I don't have all day."

Blackout glared up at Starscream from the hole he had dug. Both he and Starscream were standing inside an old run down church somewhere in Engalia that was the hiding place of another stasis panel.

"Don't tell me what to do you sniveling coward!" Blackout growled.

"When you get a promotion, then you can give the orders. Until then, shut up and get that panel!"

Zapmaster shook his head, his body giving another twitch that almost caused him to fall into the hole. They spent the better part of an hour looking for the panel because the thing was buried underneath the building, dampening the signal. It was dumb luck that they managed to find the thing with all the bickering the larger Cons were doing.

Finally Blackout found the panel and pulled it out, only to have it snatched out of his hand by Starscream.

"Another job well done by yours truly. Oh how I wish that I could use this Minicon, but alas Megatron seems fit to make me a delivery boy." The seeker scowled. "Give this thing to Lugnut. Once again he insults me by practically giving his ass kissers everything on a silver platter and making me work for it."

"Good lord, what do you want man? Do you want Megatron to die or make you his second hand? Make up your mind already!" Zapmaster groaned. he was getting really tired of listening to his master's constant whining. How the hell did this guy become a seeker commander?

"Shut up!" Starscream yelled.

Their argument was interrupted by barricade's voice over the comm-unit. " _Starscream, this is Barricade. Barricade has discovered possible location of a Minicon panel. The Autobots have been investigating."_

"Perfect," Starscream smirked. He flipped the panel in his hand as he gave his orders. "Send me the coordinates and I'll be there with my team. Follow them, but do not engage until we get there."

"You're going with the panel? But Megatron said to bring it to him right after you found it!" Blackout said. Starscream didn't look concerned as he lifted Zapmaster onto his shoulder.

"I can just say that we're having a bit of a delay in finding the panel. Besides, once we snatch the panel from the Autobots, my little white lie will not matter to Megatron." Seeing the look on the giant's face, he said, "If you're so concerned about it, then you're welcome to come along. The more firepower, the faster we get this done."

With that, Starscream transformed and flew away. Blackout could only curse the seeker and take on his helicopter form, dreading how this was going to turn out.

XXXXXXX

The Autobots ground bridged to the exact location where the cove should be. It was a river that led to a cozy little hollowed out cave where the river coalesced into a deep pool at the heart of the cove. Sunlight streamed through the round opening at the top, reflecting off the water beautifully.

Once there, Gina had Skyspy pinpoint the exact location of any large manmade structures stuck on the bottom of the sea. It only took a few seconds for the drone to scan the area and locate the location of a large ship buried at the bottom of the pool.

"That's our ship." Jazz said.

"How do we get to it though? That thing is too small for you guys to explore," Kevin said. "And I don't know about you, but I don't do well in water."

"We won't need to swim at all." Optimus said and told them of his plan.

As they conversed, Starscream stood on the top of the cove, looking down at them like they were all beneath his feet, which technically they were, but in a metaphorical sense. Behind him stood his seeker team and Blackout, who was not happy at what they were doing.

"Once they get the ship to the surface, we move in closer and get in position." Starscream said. "Skywarp and Thundercracker will take them from the south, and I will take Blackout to engage them from their flank."

"This isn't a good idea. We should at least tell lady Nightshade about-"

Starscream whirled around and backhanded Blackout. "You aren't here to think, you are here to shoot! You are with me, and if you disobey my orders, you will be meeting you comrades in the Allspark!"

Blackout glared down at him, wanting to cut the seeker in two, but for the sake of the 'mission' held himself back. Seeing his submission, Starscream smirked and stepped back.

"Good, now get in position."

Down below, the Autobots were working on getting the ship from out of the water. Using Jazz's grappling hook, Optimus tied it around a heavy boulder and made it into an anchor. Tracer dived down into the ship and tied the hook around the mast of the ship. Once everything was done, the Autobots dived down and got in position.

Optimus counted down and they all pushed, putting their immense strength into play, while the kids and D-Va above pulled. Tracer was hitching a ride on the deck. They struggled for a few minutes due to the large size of the ancient battleship, but soon they got the ship and move and saw the anchor do its work.

Kevin, Gina and D-Va stepped back and watched as the ship rose to the surface. Like all ships from ancient times, the vessel was made of wood, which was old and worn from being underwater for nearly more than a century. But it didn't look any less magnificent to the awe struck Gina.

"Penny if going to be so jelly if she knew what I did on a daily basis." She gushed. "I love my job!"

The Autobots resurfaced and returned to shore, with Tracer swimming back with four bronze poles in her arms.

"You look like you had fun." D-Va said. Tracer smiled at her.

"I did! And look what I found." She dropped the poles on the sand for everyone to see.

"Bronze? Hardly efficient material for building ships." Prowl noted. Gina knelt down to study them.

"Bronze was all they had, and it would be centuries before iron and steel would be invented. These poles show that we're on the right track, as bronze was main material used for reinforcing battleships and such." Then she sighed. "But I don't think that this is the Argo"

"What? But this is the place where it was last seen." Jazz groaned. "And I got my paint wet for nothing."

"What makes you think this, Gina?" Optimus asked.

"The Argo is a flagship, so it should look more extravagant, larger and stronger so you would know what it is at first glance. But looking at it now, it doesn't look like a ship the mighty Jason would captain would it?"

Prowl looked at the ship and saw what she meant. "Yes, you have a point. You humans do have a thing for making your military vessels with more flare than most primitive species."

"I think this might just be a ship from the Argonaut fleet," Gina hypothesized. "But we can still use what we learn from the ship to find out the real location of the Argo."

Before she could elaborate, the peace of the cove was shattered by the appearance of the Decepticons, Thundercraker and Skywarp, who appeared in a flash of light behind the Autobots. Optimus was fast enough to cover the kids and the Minicons a minute before the firefight started. With bolts pelting his armor, Prime ran over to the ship and placed them down by a hole in the lower deck.

"Stay inside the ship." He ordered. Kevin saw Skywarp appear behind Optimus, ready to strike.

"Behind you!" He shouted.

Optimus spun around and punched Skywarp in the chest with enough force to send him flying into the rock wall with a dent in his chest plate. Optimus took out his ion cannon and began shooting at Thundercracker, making him back off.

Then a red beam came down from above and hit Prime's ion cannon, knocking it from his hand and actually making his limb go numb and lifeless. He looked up to see Starscream and Blackout crash down in front of him.

"Optimus Prime, Megatron's little failure. It seems that we have the upper hand here." Starscream smirked, pointing his null ray at Prime. "Hand over the Minicon you have now and we will let you all live."

"Your mission is in vain, Starscream. There is no panel here." Optimus told him. Starscream scowled.

"Don't lie to me! I know there is a Minicon here, now tell me where it is or I'll blast those human pets of your into dust!"

"Don't say I didn't warn you. Now Jazz!"

Jazz raised his arm at Starscream, where Road Storm was powerlinked to his limb. His arm shifted into a three-barreled blaster with a round shield encircling it. He fired three blasts at Starscream, and when they hit the seeker's arm, he was surprised to see that the pieces where his armor was hit was covered in frost, like he dipped his hand in liquid nitrogen.

"What is this?" He growled. The cold bit at his armor and it stung so bad it burned. So intense was the cold that Zapmaster, who was only glanced by the cryo blasts, was forced to disengage from his partner's arm and fell to the ground, shivering violently. Prowl rushed in and punched Starscream in the jaw, throwing him into the ground and knocking the panel out of his grasp.

"No!" Blackout ran to get the panel, only to feel a burning pain in his leg. He looked down to see Prime's battle axe buried in his leg. Optimus pulled his axe out and punched the Con in the face.

Skywarp and Thundercracker were fighting Prowl and Jazz, but they were forced to keep their distance to avoid getting hit by the nitrogen blasts that Jazz shot at them. Skywarp teleported behind them and shot Prowl in the back, but got hit in his arm, his armor and servo freezing on contact. As if that wasn't bad enough, Jazz kicked his frozen arm and chunks of frozen armor shattered like glass.

"That's got to hurt." Jazz grinned. He really liked power linking with a Minicon. It gave him more toys to play with.

Optimus and Blackout were still fighting, the Con trying desperately to get the panel from Prime's hand. On his arm, his spinning rotor blades cut through the air as he tried to cut the Autobot in two. One swipe of his axe sent the blades flying, but a sonic blast from the cannon on his arm sent Optimus crashing into the one armed Skywarp.

Jazz grappled onto Thundercracker pulled himself closer to slam his knee into the seeker's face, before riddling Blackout with blasts of liquid nitrogen that froze and chipped his light armor on contact. He then grabbed Thundercracker and threw him into Blackout, sending them both into the ground. It seemed that the Autobots were gaining the upper hand, until the action was stopped with one word.

"ENOUGH!"

Everyone stopped fighting and turned to Starscream, who had his arm cannons trained on the ship where the kids and Minicons were. The seeker looked positively livid and was not in the mood to play games.

"I've had enough of this farce, Prime! Relinquish the Minicons in your possession or your friends get slagged!" He yelled. Optimus got to his feet and held his hands up.

"You won't shoot them Starscream." Optimus said, but Starscream laughed.

"So you think, but I know that you won't risk their lives making shallow bluffs." He smirked. "This is why I am the mightiest Decepticon there is. Unlike you, I don't make friends with my subordinates. They're expendable, leaving me without any unneeded baggage."

Optimus saw Kevin climb onto the deck and noticed the flames rolling off his form. He knew what the boy was doing and decided to help him.

"You have no friends Starscream, and for that you will be alone for the rest of your life." He said. "While that may release you of your liabilities, it also means that no one will help you when you find yourself at your enemy's mercy. Like right now."

Kevin, who was charging his flames in his hands for the past few minutes, released his power in one giant fire ball that nearly set the whole deck on fire. Starscream didn't even notice it as his head was engulfed in the large blast that exploded around his head. He went falling to his knees, screaming in pain as his armor and optics burned from the extreme heat.

Optimus grabbed Starscream and placed his axe near his neck, glaring at the other Cons. "Leave, now."

"Not without that bastard!" Blackout said.

"I will release him on the condition that you take your forces and leave us alone. You are at a disadvantage, so there is no point in fighting anymore."

"Don't listen to him. We can still take them!" Skywarp yelled, but Blackout punched him away.

"Shut up you fool! It is because of your leader that we are in this situation!" he snarled. Blackout looked at Optimus and nodded his agreement.

Optimus threw the wounded and blind Starscream at Blackout's feet. The seeker was yelling and screaming about Blackout being a traitor, even as Skywarp teleported them away. Optimus looked at the panel in his hand. Starscream was going to get hell from Megatron for losing this.

"Is everyone alright?"Jazz asked. Gina, Tracer and D-Va walked up onto the deck while Kevin leaned against the banister panting.

"We're fine. Just a bit tired." Kevin panted. Summoning that much fire at once was taxing on his body as he rarely did such a thing.

"And you'll never guess what we found!" Tracer chirped. She held up an old book that was surprisingly dry despite being in a ship that was underwater. "It's a logbook. Gina found it in a chest under the deck."

"I was right about this ship not being the Argo. It belonged to Atalanta, one of the Argonauts. This book gives us a lot of clues as to where the actual Argo is."

"Well done, Gina." Optimus praised. They were on the right track.

As the others gathered around Gina to go over what they found, they missed the frown that D-Va had on her face.

XXXXXXX

Nightshade was looking out the main monitor on the Nemesis' bridge as Blackout and Starscream entered the room.

"So I heard from Thundercracker and Skywarp that you had a Minicon but failed to deliver it directly to the base." She said, not looking at them. "Is this true?"

Starscream didn't answer, so Blackout did in his place. "Yes ma'am. Starscream thought that he could take on Prime's team with just us, instead of following the orders were given."

"I see. Despite how things turned out, you did well in exercising caution Blackout. That's needed when fighting a war." Nightshade said. Blackout bowed his head to her.

"Thank you, ma'am. I was just doing my duty as a warrior for lord Megatron." He said honestly.

"And you have certainly have proven yourself as a warrior, make no mistake of that." Megatron walked into the bridge, red eyes trained on the shivering Starscream. "As for you Starscream, care to explain why you ignored my orders to return the Minicon?"

Starscream looked up at those burning eyes, which were about ten seconds away from exploding in a violent rage. It was moments like this that he preferred getting his ass beat by Optimus. At least he was quick about it. And not as humiliating.


	13. A Beautiful Lie

Chapter 13-A Beautiful Lie

The Xing rice fields were set aflame as explosions blossomed in the area, and blaster bolts flew through the air. Autobots and Decepticons were shooting at each other from across the valley, both sides taking cover from the other's attacks. Lungnut and Barricade were trying to fight off the Autobots, who were a team consisting of Optimus, Ironhide, Bulkhead and Prowl.

Nightshade, who was perched on a cliff inside one of the valley walls, was taking pot shots at the Autobots from her position. It was an effective strategy to take the heat of her subordinates, but shooting heavy hitters like Ironhide and Bulkhead was like trying to shoot a tank with a pistol.

"This is not getting us anywhere," She muttered. The Autobots had another panel in their possession and they were trying to get it back before they had the chance to retreat, but their little assault wasn't going very well. "Where the hell are you Starscream?"

As if on cue, three jets flew in from above firing their auto-cannons down at the Autobots. Thundercracker and Skywarp went forward and dropped some cluster bombs, scattering the Autobots and riddling the ground with more explosions that caused the whole valley to shake.

Nightshade noticed that pieces of the rock walls were knocked loose, falling down on the Cons below. "Starscream, don't use too much firepower or you'll cause a landslide!"

"Don't tell me how to do my job!" Starscream hissed back and continued his assault on the Autobots. He grunted when a bolt grazed his wing, courtesy of Bulkhead. "You two, deal with the brutes."

"Got it." Skywarp said. He and Thundercracker vanished, and reappeared above Bulkhead and Ironhide, unleashing everything they had on them.

"Now where is Prime? Ah, there he is." Starscream spotted Optimus fighting Lugnut, tangling his battle blade with Lugnut's large mace.

He made a b-line towards his position and prepped his cruise missiles to fire at the Prime's unprotected back. He was so focused on his target that he didn't notice Prowl shoot one of his shoulder missiles at him until the projectile hit his wing.

"No!" The attack had knocked him of balance and threw his missiles off target. One hit the ground near Optimus while the other his Lugnut in the chest, blasting the Con back. Starscream cursed loudly at his failure.

Nightshade saw everything and moved from her postion. "Starscream fall back!"

"Never! I still have the advantage!" Starscream bellowed as he transformed and power linked with Zapmaster. He aimed his null ray at the Prime and fired his weapon at full blast.

Nightshade was already racing to him in beast mode, but she was too late to stop the seeker from attacking. As expected from her, Optimus moved so that the debilitating beam barely grazed him and fired his Ion cannon at the seeker. With his laser guided vision, Optimus had no trouble hitting Starscream in the leg, almost taking it off and sending him crashing to the ground.

Starscream spat out a mouth full of snow and dirt and winced at the pain in his leg. He got to one knee before a large shadow fell over him and he looked up to see Optimus glaring down at him. His already pale features went even whiter.

"N-no, don't!" Starscream stammered, losing all traces of his earlier bravado.

"You've already been given you chance, Starscream." Optimus said. He leveled his ion cannon at the seeker's head, but was forced to jump away to avoid the rain of missile darts that hit the ground around him.

Nightshade landed before Starscream in her bird mode and glared down at Starscream with her thin red slits she called eyes. The flames made her black armor glow, making her look even more menacing. Starscream held back any words he wanted to say, knowing she was seconds away from stabbing his eyes out with her beak.

"All units pull back," Nightshade said to her forces. "We're retreating."

Back at the Nemesis, the Cons were getting their wounds treated in the CR chambers, while Nightshade and Starsream were in the bridge having a little 'chat'.

"What the hell were you thinking? We had the Autobots on the ropes. They were running!" Starscream hissed at her. Nightshade pushed him back and sneered at him.

"Don't pin the blame on me. You and you lackeys almost blew your own people up in that valley. Not to mention that little stunt you pulled nearly put Lugnut in critical condition!"

"My target was Prime!"

"You never take Prime on alone unless you're Megatron, and you're certainly no Megatron!" She laughed. "I ordered you to stay back, and what do you do? The fragging opposite!"

"For your information, I was trying to get results. Which was much more than what you were trying to do." He replied angrily.

"You think you're tough slag, but it only took Prime three seconds to drop you out of the sky and had you on your knees begging for your life." Nightshade retorted bitterly. "Just because you're a seeker doesn't mean that you're all that. In the battlefield the Autobots don't care, they just want you dead. So shape up or you'll have more than your ego to worry about."

"Is that a threat Nightshade?" Starscream growled.

"No, it's a promise." Nightshade sneered.

"Silence both of you!" Megatron shouted.

The warlord's anger made both fighters clam up and stand at attention. Megatron glared at them both before looking out the monitor on the bridge. The calm image of the sunny tropical beach outside did nothing to quell the growing annoyance he was feeling at the situation at hand. Soundwave stood to the side, silent and still, but ready to intervene if necessary.

"For the past month, the Autobots have been steadily getting stronger. Though they rarely use their Minicons, the fact remains that they have so many at their disposal, and according to our mole, they are on the trail of another." Megatron said and faced his two underlings. "Our performance is nothing short of disappointing, and fighting amongst ourselves will only make things worse."

"Then try to keep Starscream on a shorter leash so he won't embarrass us again." Nightshade mumbled.

Megatron glared at her before getting to the real reason he called them there. "Soundwave has detected a stasis panel on one of the Grecian islands. The humans call this island Lemnos. The signal has been showing up at irregular time intervals, which is not normal for a stasis panel. The three of us are going to search that island for that panel."

"T-the three of us, sire?" Starscream blinked.

"I didn't stutter Starscream." Megatron said. "Take some time in the CR chamber then report to the shuttle bay at once. That is all."

Nightshade and Starscream glared at each other and exited the bridge. This was only one of many clashes between the two Cons, and wasn't even the most violent.

XXXXXXX

The island of Lemnos was a land set in legends. To the humans, it is the home of a matriarchal society of women who had killed their fathers, brothers, uncles, husbands and sons. Nightshade heard this little tidbit from Knockout in passing, and wondered if all human mythological stories were as bloody as this.

They stood on the shore of Lemnos, the ground bridge vanishing behind them. Starscream sniffed as he kicked away a crab that was getting too close for comfort and looked around at the beach.

"This place doesn't look to bad. I could do without the fragging crabs though." He said. Megatron shouldered past him and looked at the jungle that lay before them.

"We aren't here to look at the scenery you fool. We have a job to do." He rumbled. He looked at Leader-1, who was holding the scanner. "Where is the panel?"

"Hard to say. I'm getting the signal from the jungle, but I can't tell if it's five kliks from us or five hundred. The damn scanner's been acting crazy since we got here." Leader-1 said.

Megatron hummed and looked at the jungle. The region looked plain and unassuming, but so did Nyx, until the pack of Lobos come and mow you down. It would be a waste of time to search the island from top to bottom, so there was only one logical solution.

"We'll split up. Starscream, you search for any caves or underground passages that may be hampering the signal. Nightshade, you will search the mountain tops. I will stay at ground level."

"W-why do I have to search the caves? I'm a seeker, not some mining drone!" Starscream exclaimed.

"If you do not cease your whining, you will be buried alive in the ground. Now shut up and get moving!" Megatron shouted.

Starscream gulped and quickly fast walked into the forest. Megatron made to do the same, but noticed Nightshade hanging back, looking at the mountain at the heart of the island.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"Nothing, just making sure we're alone." She said. Megatron nodded and continued into the jungle, leaving her alone on the beach. Nightshade turned to her Minicon. "Be on your guard. Something is not right here."

"Yes ma'am." Songbird nodded and power linked with her mistress. Folding up into an arm mounted laser bow, Songbird remained on high alert.

Nightshade took a deep breath and walked forward, knowing that this was going to be a long day.

XXXXXXX

In the middle of a dark chamber, three sisters stood in a circle, a round crystal ball floating before them.

" _Do you feel it sister?"_ The younger sister asked.

" _Yes, Grave. We have visitors."_ The older sister said _._

" _Odd ones at that, much different than the humans who came here all those centuries ago."_ The middle sister noted _. "They are like Talon, but much smaller, and more…alive."_

" _Impossible! We are the only ones blessed by the Oracle! These things are nothing but automatons made in our likeliness. To think of them as anything else would be blasphemy in the eyes of the White Queen, Fortissimo!"_ Grave said.

" _Calm yourself, Grave. Do you not feel their souls? They harbor metal shells, but they're souls are like ours. Interesting."_ The older sister, Allegretto, waved herhand over the orb and focused on the red one, Starscream _. "Let's see what makes them tick. If they are anything like us, then this will give some credence to the disappearance of Feroce, Forte and Flebile in the northlands."_

Fortissimo wasn't happy with the idea, but the word of her older sister was law. _"Very well, we will look into their hearts."_

" _Yes, and we will see why they feel like us."_ Grave agreed.

" _And they will kneel to the true masters of this world."_ Allegretto said.

Then all three sisters chanted _, "For we are the three who act as one. All powerful, all knowing, ever seeing."_

XXXXXXX

Starscream found the entrance to the cave network that went down for miles under the island. He followed a river that went through the forest and into a honeycombed network of tunnels and caves that ran deep under the bedrock. Possibly even under the ocean itself.

He hated every minute of it. He hated being in places where his powers of flight were useless. It wasn't uncommon for a flyer like him to be unnerved by the dark, dank caverns of the earth, to feel restrained because the world tried to leash him to the ground with gravity. Thundercracker and Sunstorm, the hyperactive bastard he was, were the same way in that regard. He was a seeker, a king of the skies with skills rivaled by no one, not even that glitch Nightshade.

'No one save HER.' He thought bitterly. 'She was always better than me, no matter what I do, she was always looming over my shoulder like some god forsaken shadow. Even in death, people still compared me to her.'

Then he stopped. Why was he thinking of her now, of all places? His sister was dead and buried, gone forever to the Allspark with a legacy that was rightfully his. He had no regrets!

"Boss?"

"What is it?" Starscream asked rudely. Zapmaster looked up at him.

"What's with you, you've been staring at nothing for a while there." He said. Starscream took a deep breath and continued walking.

"It's nothing you should be concerned about. Let's move on."

They went deeper into the cave, which wasn't as dark as they thought it would be because of the light streaming in from the opening in the cave ceiling. Sunlight broke through the crack and shown down on the water, giving the place a rather cozy atmosphere that calmed Starscream a bit.

" _Starscream."_

He froze in place, eyes wide and spark pulsing as that voice he had spent so long trying to block from his mind rang in his audio receptors.

"W-who's there?" He stammered. He didn't hear Zapmaster calling out to him as he stumbled forward, trying to find the speaker.

" _Starscream."_

"Stop playing games with me and show yourself!" Starscream shouted.

That voice, that accursed voice reminded him of someone he much rather had forgotten. The voice of the femme that made his life a living hell once the day he matured from a protoform.

XXXXXXX

 _The city of Vos was a place where those who ruled the sky ruled the people. It was home to Cybertron's Air Defense Force, composed of the Seeker brotherhood that dominated this state. The city was composed of towering spires and long highways that connected together in one large web that crisscrossed the landscape in a clutter that rivaled Iacon._

 _Starscream stood inside the citadel, watching the jagged skyline of the Vosian city that he called home. The sky was orange and the airspace was full of Vosian-born flyers who weaved through the buildings with such ease that it looked like they were swimming._

' _This is the life. Living above the ground-bound lower castes and doing practically nothing with my life.' Starscream thought. He frowned as he realized that little tidbit. His life was boring as hell. Though with how things were heating up in Tarn, he knew things were going to get fun really soon._

" _Screamer!" A jovial voice exclaimed. Starscream groaned._

" _Oh Primus no."_

 _A tall mech entered the chamber, he was mostly white with red energon lines running along the length of his body, and sported a blue visor with a white face-plate. He jogged up to Starscream and threw an arm around the seeker's shoulders._

" _How's my favorite little buddy doing?" Jetfire laughed._

" _Fine, Jetfire, just fine." Starscream said sweetly. 'If it isn't having to deal with Sunstorm's suicidal tendencies, then it's trying to survive Jetfire's exuberance.'_

" _So what you're doing up here all by your lonesome? Not pretending your Sentinel rime I hope!" Jetfire cackled._

" _Nothing of the sort, Jetfire." He wasn't that ambitious. With everything that's been going on lately, he did not envy Sentinel's job." Now what brings you here, I thought you were out on patrol."_

" _I decided to come back early, I have a date planned for tonight." Jetfire whispered loudly. "Can you guess who it is?"_

" _Slipstream." He said._

" _It's Slipstre-wait how do you know?"_

" _She won't shut up about it. What else?"_

 _Jetfire was going to make a witty remark when the door slammed open and in walked their shared commander, Deadscream. She was a slender gunmetal grey femme with deep red eyes that bore into the very sparks of the seekers before her. Deadscream was the air commander of the seeker armada, and Starscream's biological older sister. Though one wouldn't know this after seeing how she treats him._

 _Both Jetfire and Starscream broke apart and stood ram-rod straight as she approached them in her tense stroll._

" _G-good evening sister, how was your day?" Starscream asked._

 _Deadscream looked down at him, in both a figurative and literal sense seeing as she was a head taller than him and only a few inches shorter than Jetfire, and turned to the white mech._

" _Jetfire, could you give us some privacy please?" She asked, though it was not a request._

' _Uh oh. Someone's in trouble.' Thought Jetfire. There was a lot of bad blood between the twins and made sure to clear the area before the fireworks went off._

 _When Jetfire was gone, Deadscream didn't even wait a second before backhanding her brother across the jaw, knocking him into the window. She glared at him in a rare show of anger._

" _What the hell were you thinking you fool?!" Deadscream snarled._

" _W-what do you mean? What did I do?" Starscream stammered, though he knew what she meant._

" _Don't play games with me! You were supplying nucleon grade weapons to the Decepticons weren't you?"_

" _How dare you accuse me of aiding those marauding band of barbarians! I would never do such a thing."_

 _Deadscream held up a holo-vid that showed him, Skywarp and Thundercracker talking with the gladiator Megatron and Soundwave. It showed the entirety of the deal being made to periodically give weapons to the cause, as well as supply routes to secret areas within Vos, in return for a place at the table in Megatron's revolution._

" _Skyfire is not a surveillance bot for nothing, Starscream." She said dryly._

' _Stupid Minicon.' Starscream thought._

" _I was simply securing a place for our kind in the new world to come, dear sister. The Decepticon revolt has been gaining speed, and it's only a matter of time before war breaks out over control of Cybertron. As seekers, we deserve a seat at the table, do we not?" He explained._

" _YOU IDIOT!" Deadscream was positively livid._ " _Did you forget our creed, a seeker is loyal only unto himself! Even if we pledge to serve another faction, we are loyal only to our brothers and sisters of the sky! What you did could bring the whole damn senate and that fool Sentinel Prime on us! You placed our independence in jeopardy! And for what? To move yourself up in the world and satiate your inferiority complex?"_

' _I I just-ugh!" Starscream grunted when she punched him again and planted her foot on his chest._

" _Just what? Speak up your whimpering fool! Show me that bravado you always parade around behind my back!" When he remained silent, she sniffed and stepped back. "Just what I thought. You're only brave and tough when I'm not around to show people what true leadership is. Stop your backroom dealings with the Cons or so help me I will rip out your voice box so that you will never embarrass the seekers again. Do you understand?"_

" _Yes, sister." He said softly._

 _Deadscream sneered at her brother and marched back out the room. When she was gone, Starscream sat on his knees, looking at his hands. They were trembling._

 _He was sick of this. Of being treated like he was trash. His sister may think that she could act like nothing was happening on Cybertron, that no one will dare attack them. But she was wrong._

 _There is a war coming, and he planned for the seekers to be on the winning side. Without Deadscream._

 _XXXXXXX_

Starscream gritted his teeth at the memory. Deadscream was as stone cold as they come, and she always lorded her position over him. It didn't help that she was a point one percenter, something that only made him more jealous of her.

He shook his head, now was not to the time to be thinking of the past. She was dead, he was alive and in command of the mightiest force in the Decepticons. That's the end of it.

"That's what you think."

A bolt of energy tore into the ground in front of him. Starscream leapt back and had Zapmaster powerlink with him to bring out his null ray cannon.

"Who's there!" He shouted. "Show yourself or face my wrath!"

"Oh Starscream, we both know that you're nowhere near as fearsome as you think you are. All you are is hot air."

A figure stepped into the dim light. Starscream felt his anger fade almost immediately as he saw who his attacker was.

"Deadscream?"

His sister gave him a truly devilish smile, teeth and all, as she glared at Starscream.

"Hello brother."

XXXXXXXXX

Nightshade and Songbird flew up to the mountain near the center of the island, more specifically a small cliff that caught their eye. It was oddly tall, and looked like the tip of a spear, stabbing through mother earth. The red dust on the rocks even looked like blood.

It reminded Nightshade of the towering spires of the Badlands back on Cybertron. The Badlands were just full of these spires, tall points of warped metal that fit all too well with the grim motif of the Badlands where the downtrodden and forgotten bots of the lower castes resided.

She landed on the cliff and transformed, as did Songbird who landed on her shoulder. The Con turned to take a moment to look at the vast island before her. As much as she hated being stuck on this planet, she had to admit that this world had some amazing scenery. It was a shame that most of it was being torn to shreds because of the humans.

'Though, we weren't any different.' Thought Nightshade, thinking back on how the war had pretty much destroyed much of Cybertron's surface. Even the Helix Gardens weren't spared, and she loved those crystalline trees of harmony. 'But it wasn't our fault that Cybertron was dying. None of this would've happened if those racist fools in the Senate weren't so caught up in trying to control us.'

Nightshade's thoughts drifted back to a time when she was not the second in command officer of the Decepticons, but simply Nightshade, the scavenger with wings as black as Unicron's spark.

XXXXXXX

 _The Badlands of Cybertron were among the harshest territories on the planet, just under the Sea of Rust, which was along its borders. The metal there was as black as the bots who lived there, and the landscape was marred by tall, twisting spires that jutted up from the ground. It was said that the Badlands were once the site of some battle from ages past that turned the entire region into one black scar, but that notion has yet to be proven._

 _Nightshade flew over the blackened land in her beast mode with a large energon cube clutched in her claws, her red eyes scanning the terrain for any stragglers or agents who might be following her. She may be acting a bit paranoid, but when it came to the Senate it paid to be careful._

 _She flew over a small mountain range and saw the edge of Kaon ahead. Diving low, she flew close to the ground as she approached the very edge of the city. Nightshade reached the old, dusty streets and transformed, catching the two cubes in her arm._

 _She made her way to the old house at the end of the street, which looked like a storm had tried to blow it away multiple times and just gave up on the last attempt. Nightshade looked around one last time before ducking into the house, kicking the door closed behind her._

" _Damus, I'm home!" She called out._

" _In here!"_

 _Nightshade tossed the cube onto a stack of energon cubes stockpiled in the corner and walked into another room, where a slender red mech was sitting listening to some music._

" _Primus, Damus are you listening to that damn song again?" Nightshade groaned. Damus, her conjux endura, turned his dull yellow eyes onto the much taller femme._

" _Don't talk smack about the Emyprean Suite, it's a work of art." He said._

" _It's annoying as hell."_

" _Don't blame me because you don't have any musical appreciation." Damus shrugged. His sister was one of those 'new age' bots who liked the garbage they played in the clubs in Ky-Alexia._

 _Nightshade sighed and plopped herself in the broken down chair next to him."Not now, Damus. I just flew in from Stryx today and I'm exhausted."_

 _That caught his attention. "Stryx? Whoa, Shade, that's like 500 kliks from Kaon. What are you doing flying over there?"_

" _Getting us energon. Those oil holes over in Stryx have laughable security. It's no problem snatching some cubes from there." She said._

 _Damus didn't say anything. He hated that she had to go to so much effort just to get enough energon to feed them both. It was a dangerous world out there, especially for a beast former._

" _Relax," Nightshade said, sensing his discomfort. "I don't mind flying the distance if it means that you get to function properly."_

" _Still, if I could just go outside, then I can get some cubes from the refinery-"_

" _No, too risky. You know that the Senate's lapdogs have been sniffing around for any bot stupid enough to go against the system." She said. "And a mech who can turn into a tank that's working as a musician is not a part of the system."_

 _Damus sighed and looked down at his hands. He was born with a tank alt mode, but he hated fighting and wasn't the type of mech who did well under the strain of military conduct. His main love was for music, listening to performing pieces of his own design that gained a bit of a fanbase among the lower caste bots in the neighborhood. This was going against the will of both the senate and the Funtionist council, and that terrified him almost as much as the thought of losing Nightshade to those butchers in the Elite Guard._

" _I know it's dangerous, but it's better than having you risk your life every day just for a few scraps of energon. You strong Nightshade but not strong enough to take on the entire world." He said._

 _Nightshade took his face in her hands and turned it so he faced her. "Damus, as long as I have you, I will keep fighting. I don't care about the risks, all I care about is making sure you get to live your life the way you want to. Together we can fight through their oppression."_

 _Damus smiled. "Nightshade, I love you. And even without my music I can still make it through this with you."_

 _Nightshade smiled and pressed her forehead against his. "You will stay with me, right?"_

" _Always."_

 _XXXXXXX_

'Damus.' She thought forlornly. The thought of her lover made her spark ache. It had been a while since she thought of him, but she didn't know why she was thinking about him now of all places. 'It must be the scenery. It's getting me sentimental.'

Nightshade inhaled the fresh air and walked into the cave that was behind her. The trail spiraled down into the rock formation, leading her deeper and deeper into its dark interior. She was waiting for any sign of the panel's location, but she wasn't getting any clear sign of it being nearby.

"Songbird, do you detect any sign of the panel? I'm not getting anything on my scanners." She said.

"No, mistress. All I can tell you is that the signal is below us." The Mini-Con said softly.

Now she was getting worried. Nightshade descended deeper and deeper into the darkness, and yet they still hadn't made any progress. Half an hour passed and she was no closer to the end of this natural pathway than she was earlier.

"What the hell is going on here?" She growled. She extended her sensors to analyze the rock around here to see how close she was to the bottom but something was blocking her scanners. She had no idea where she was! "Enough of this!"

At her command, Songbird attached herself to Nightshade's arm and formed an arm mounted railgun, which Nightshade used to blast a hole in the wall. She jumped through the wall, but was surprised not to find herself outside, but in the heart of some cavern.

This cavern was like nothing she had seen before. The walls were lined from one end to the other with hard crystal that glowed a prismatic radiance that made the place just seem heavenly. Water flowed down onto the ground from the rivers and streams outside and collected into a pool in the middle of the cavern.

Looking up she saw that the cavern actually extended hundreds of feet above her, continuing upwards in a spiraling pattern that shrank the higher it went. This was the inside of the spire.

"Beautiful isn't it? You've always loved crystals. They natural beauty they displayed."

Nightshade raised her weapon as she heard an ethereal voice ring in her head. "Who said that?"

"Why, don't you remember me, Shade?"

A red form rose from the pool in a slow gait, water dripping from his small form as he exited the pool and approached Nightshade. Her eyes widened as she saw who it was that appeared before her.

"D-Damus?" She gasped. Damus smiled and held his arms out to her.

"Hello my love."

XXXXXXX

"Deadscream?" Starscream gasped. He took a step back without thinking and cursed himself for showing fear. "How are you still alive?"

"Is that fear I hear in your voice, Starscream? Even after all these years you still tremble at the sound of my name?" Deadscream let out a horrid cackle that sent shivers up Starscream's spine. "Pathetic. And you want to take over the Decepticons."

"Shut up!"

Starscream fired a blast from his null ray at Deadscream, but the beam missed and hit the far side of the wall.

"You can't even hit me because you're so scared. Fine then, if you're not going to draw first blood, then allow me!"

Deadscream ran forward with her arms shifting into a pair of barbed swords, phasing in and out of sight like some ghost as she got close to him. Starscream brought himself to deploy his melee weapon, a three-bladed bayonet, to deflect a powerful strike that sent him crashing into the wall.

"Fight back!" Deadscream shouted. She stabbed at his chest but he deflected the strike and rolled to the side, only for her to kick him in the face. "You coward! Fight back!"

He was trying, he really was, but something was crippling him. A soft hymn at the back of his mind was distracting him, slowing his movements. He fired his null ray again but she dodged it and slashed his shoulder, sending energon mixing into the water below him. Her attacks were as quick and precise as they were all those years ago. His close combat skills were garbage enough without her here to make that fact evident.

They clashed for a few seconds more before Deadscream knocked his arm aside and jumped up, planting both feet into his chest and kicking him so hard that he was sent flying across the cave back to where he first entered. She rushed at him and pinned him to the ground.

"I'm going to kill you, Starscream. Nice and slow." She hissed. "I'm going to pay you back for killing me all those years ago!"

That jogged something in his mind. Yes he did kill her, a long time ago during the twilight days of the Decepticons Uprising.

XXXXXXX

 _Vos was burning. Word had gotten out that Senator Crocus was assassinated, and just a few hours later a Decepticon army was approaching Vos's gates. An army led by Shockwave._

 _Starscream and Thundercracker were standing on one of the lookout towers watching the chaos unfold._

" _This is a disaster." Thundercracker said._

" _Indeed it is Thundercracker." Starscream muttered._

" _I thought the seekers were supporting the Decepticons, what changed to make them attack Vos?"_

" _Guess." Starscream growled._

 _Deadscream had publicly denounced any further dealings with the Decepticons, making an effort to insult them in full view of the cameras. As leader of the seekers, she was well within her rights, but with how the Decepticons were quickly taking over Kaon, not many shared her confidence. It didn't help that Vos's senator was killed in his home. The seekers now had control of Vos, but for what cost?_

" _If something isn't done soon, then Vos is going to end up like Stryx." Thundercracker said. Then Skywarp's voice came over their internal comms._

" _Hey, boss lady is wants you both down here stat."_

 _Starscream made a noise of acknowledgement before nodding to Thundercracker. They both jumped off the tower and transformed to jet mode, flying to the citadel that the seekers had made their main base of operations._

 _They switched back to robot mode and landed on the ground. Entering the citadel, they saw that most of the seeker's inner circle was assembled in the main hall. Deadscream looked at them like they were noting but dirt at the bottom of her foot._

" _It's about damn time you joined us." She said. Starscream looked around for a certain white flyer._

" _Where's Jetfire?"_

" _The bastard ditched us for the Autobots." Slipstream grumbled."The same with Sunstone."_

 _Starscream gritted his teeth. Sunstone was another seeker who was an ace flyer, capable of performing nearly impossible maneuvers in the air, moves that were considered too risky by most other seekers. If she had defected to the Autobots, then this was a sure sign that they needed to pick a side and soon._

" _Deadscream, we must side with the Decepticons now or else everything we've built here we be destroyed." He urged his sister to see reason._

" _I have told you one too many times Starscream, that we seekers adhere to no one! If those savages from Kaon want a fight so badly, then we will give them a fight. We have the surperior numbers and the home field advantage and we will win."_

" _But-"_

 _Deadscream stepped up to him, close enough that he could see her optics through her glass coverings. "I will not throw away our independence because you are too scared to fight like a true warrior!"_

" _I'm trying to preserve our way of life. The Decepticons are going to rule Cybertron, and the seekers will be at the vanguard of their efforts! As seekers we deserve the glory of conquest!"_

 _She promptly punched him in the jaw hard enough to send him to the ground, and began kicking him. The other seekers hanged back, wanting to help, but knowing that Deadscream would kill them if they tried._

" _I AM THE COMMANDER! NOT JETFIRE, NOT SUNSTONE AND CERTAINLY NOT YOU!" Deadscream roared. "I AM SICK OF YOUR COWARDICE! YOU ARE A DISGRACE TO OUR BROTHERHOOD, AND I WILL NOT TOLERATE WEAKNESS FROM ANYONE, ESPECIALLY FROM MY FAILURE OF A BROTHER!"_

 _Each word hurt more than the blows he was taking. She abused him, treated him like he was dirt, insulted his pride. But this time something was different, she was accusing him of being a traitor to the seekers, to his kin. That was something he was not going to take. He was trying to save the seekers from annihilation, give them the chance to become the mighty armada they were meant to be. He wasn't the traitor, she was!_

" _ENOUGH!"_

 _Starscream roared and jumped up, his bayonet shooting from his arm as he leapt at her. With a trust of his arm, the blade sank into Deadscream's chest, emerging from her back and extinguishing her spark almost immediately. Both twins looked each other in the eyes before the light faded from Deadscream's optics, her face still stuck in its shocked and enraged expression._

 _Starscream pulled his arm back and let her drop to the ground, staring at the corpse in shock. She was dead? Yes, yes she was dead, and by his own hand no less. He was finally free of her!_

 _Looking at the other seekers, Starscream stood up straight and tall, trying to look every bit the commander he now was._

" _Seekers! Our leader is dead! As the highest ranking officer here, it is now my duty to take command of the Seekers of Vos." He said. "Are there any objections?"_

 _No one spoke up, in fact they looked rather relieved that Deadscream was gone. No longer did they have to fear for their lives, or tip toe around her to avoid triggering her psychotic temper triades._

 _Starscream smirked. "Good. Now as my first action as commander, call Shockwave up and tell him we need to talk. It's time things changed around here."_

 _XXXXXXX_

He killed her because she was leading the seekers to ruin, infecting them with the same stagnation that took hold of the Senate and Sentinel Prime. He did the world a favor by snuffing her out!

'And if she was dead, then this specter,' thought Starscream. 'This ghost isn't her at all.'

"I see now. You aren't Deadscream, you're nothing like her." He growled, making her stop her assault. "You're an imposter, the real Deadscream is dead and buried, her body tossed into the sonic canyons. And Deadscream never plays with her food!"

He shot forward and jammed his bayonet into the fake Deadscream's chest, just like before. But unlike the last time, her body began to shimmer and fade, like some hologram. Starscream grinned as he was correct in his assumption.

"Now why don't you come out so we can have a real battle."

Be careful what you wish for, seeker. You will regret that decision."

Starscream saw the air before him shimmer and distort before a large form appeared in front of him and what he saw was nothing like what he was expecting.

"What are you?"

XXXXXXX

"Damus?" Nightshade whispered, her voice little more than a breeze. "Is that you?"

"It is, my dear." Damus said, smiling. "Look at you, I'm amazed at how strong you had become. You truly are a predator."

Overcome with emotion, Nightshade disengaged Songbird and ran into the arms of her lost love. She hugged him tight, afraid that he may disappear again.

"I thought I lost you."

"I came close to death, but I made it through. And I came a long way just to see you again Shade."

Songbird transformed and looked at her mistress. This was her lover Damus? But, didn't he die during the Clampdown on Cybertron? There is no way he could have survived and flew all the way to this planet, where no one knew where they were. Something wasn't right.

Then she saw it, Damus's body shimmered for a split second, but she caught it with her keen eyes. Physical beings don't act like that, not if they were some form of hologram or solid light projection!

"Lady Nigtshade! It's a trick, that's not Damus!" She yelled.

Her words did not reach Nightshade, because unknown to her, there was a high pitched noise ringing in the Con's audio receptors. Seeing that her words were not reaching her mistress, Songbird tried the next thing she could think of.

She transformed into her railgun mode and fired off her thrusters to give her enough height to fire a plasma beam at Damus. The beam shot over Nigtshade's shoulder and hit him in the chest, knocking him back a bit.

"Songbird stand down!" Nightshade shouted. "He's not your enemy!"

"That is not Damus, my lady. He is an imposter, look!"

Nightshade looked back at Damus just in time to see his body ripple like water before returning to normal. Her eyes went wide, then she winced when the noise in her head grew louder.

"Shade, is something wrong?" Damus asked.

"W-who are you?"

"Excuse me?"

"Who the hell are you?!" She shouted, the ringing was getting louder now, and it was only making her angrier. "You're not Damus, you're just some ghost wearing his face!"

The real Damus died because of a mistake she made long ago. Because she wasn't strong enough.

XXXXXXX

 _Nightshade flew onto the familiar street where she lived with her conjux. She was about to call out to Damus when she noticed that the door to their abode was smashed in, and scorch marks were on the street._

" _Damus?" She called out. When she didn't get a reply back, she ran into the house. "Damus! Answer me!"_

 _The interior of the house was a mess, ransacked. The entire stack of energon cubes was gone, and there was some energon pooling on the floor. She looked in Damus' music room to find that all his instruments were destroyed, and another gruesome sight._

 _A pair of severed hands._

" _No," Nightshade gasped. They got him. Those functionist bastards got him!_

" _Aww, is the little birdy sad that her boy toy got taken away?"_

 _Nightshade spun around and saw a light blue femme walk out of the storage room. She looked like she was a lightning bolt in physical form, with long, sharp claws that were jagged like thunderbolts. Her head was curved and angular, and her blue eyes held a certain degree of madness in them._

" _Who are you?" Nightshade asked. She was just barely able to restrain herself from animalistic rage._

" _Sourcefield, proud agent of the Legislators, and you must be Nightshade." Sourcefield raked her eyes along Nightshade's body. "My, you certainly are easy on the eyes aren't you?"_

" _Where is Damus?"_

" _You boyfriend has been shipped off to get some reconditioning. Don't worry, he'll still be alive. Which is much more than what I can say for you, animal."_

" _Tell me where he is!" She snarled. Sourcefield laughed._

" _You'll have to do more than just give me a scary lo-"_

 _The femme was suddenly propelled through the wall by Nightshade's beast mode, crashing into the ground outside with the large black bird looming over her. Sourcefield encased her body in electricity and fired nearly a dozen lightning bolts at Nightshade. Nightshade switched to robot mode and ducked under the bolts, letting them crash into the remains of her house before leaping at Sourcefield._

 _Sourcefield channeled lightning into her fist and slammed it into Nightshade's face. She went crashing into the ground, but retaliated by pulling out one of her swords and stabbing Sourcefield in the thigh._

" _Gah! You glitch!"_

 _Sourcefield tried to electrocute the blade and Nightshade with it, but she let go just in time and jumped up, stabbing her other sword into the femme's gut, right through the T-cog and pulling the blade upwards. Sourcefield coughed up energon as she was almost bisected, but Nightshade stopped the blade just as it was under her spark core._

" _Tell me where Damus is or I will make your death slow and painful." Nightshade hissed._

 _Sourcefield coughed a laugh. "He's at the Rivets Field facility. Good luck trying to get in there, because the place is heavily guarded."_

" _I'll deal with that as I see fit."_

 _Then she jerked her blade and cut Sourcefield's upper body in half, from spark to brain module._

 _Hours later, Nightshade was deep inside the facility that was holding Damus. She was covered in wounds and dents, but nothing serious. She did a lot worse to the guards and medics blocking her way._

 _She blasted the door open and ran into the cell he was being held in. "Damus? Please answer me!"_

" _S-Shade?" A weak voice answered. "Is that you?"_

 _Nightshade looked forward and saw that her conjux was strapped to an operating table, and sounded like he was just waking up. She ran over to him and broke his bonds. Pulling him off the table and onto her lap. She let out a gasp upon seeing his face and hands._

" _W-what's wrong? Why do I feel so strange?" Damus asked._

" _D-don't talk. Just rest, you've been through a lot. But you're safe now." Her voice cracked a bit as she was slowly overcome with emotion._

" _Shade what's wro-" Damus cut himself off as he tried to reach for his face, only to notice that his hands were not five fingered, but three clawed and clunky. "What is this?"_

 _Nightshade said nothing as she watched Damus stumble to his feet, grabbing the first reflective object he could find and looked into it. What he saw staring back made him give a horrific scream of agony and pain. It wasn't his facc, but a round head with a single yellow eye in the center._

" _WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO ME! MY HANDS, MY FACE! THEY TOOK IT ALL AWAY!"_

 _Nightshade stared up at her tormented lover and stood, up wrapping her arms around him as he a he sobbed over his face and hands._

 _XXXXXXX_

"You're not Damus." Nightshade muttered in realization. "He's dead."

"What? But I'm right here, I'm as real as the crystals you see around us." Damus said. She shook her head.

"The mech I loved died that day, when the functionists stole his hands and face!" Nightshade drew her blades and pointed them at the fake Damus. "And you dare desecrate his memory by wearing his face. Show yourself to me you hellspawn!"

Damus frowned. "But I am Damus. Don't you remember how we would argue about my tastes in music? How I always loved listening to classical cybertronian orchestra?"

The ringing was getting louder, but she did her best to ignore it. "No, I saw him die in my arms. He is gone, now and forever! And there's nothing anyone can say about that! So get out of my head!"

Songbird connected to Nightshade's arm and fired a beam at Damus. The beam hit him in the chest, and this time, his image shattered like glass before fading into nothingness. The crystals around them went dark, dimming from a brilliant prismatic radiance into a dark blue glow that cloaked her in shadows.

"Well done. Not many can break out of my illusions so easily." A disembodied voice said. "As a reward, you shall fight me in my full splendor."

XXXXXXX

Every fiber of Megatron's being was screaming that something was wrong. It first began when he followed the trial of the Minicon panel into the most remote area of the island, a marsh that led deeper into the jungle. Then he had lost contact with Nightshade and Starscream. When he ordered Leader-1 to contact his Minicon comrades, the little bot had no such luck either.

"I don't know if it's the dense foliage or our different locations, but I'm not picking up their comm signals." Leader-1 said. It was a bit unnerving, seeing as he was used to being in constant contact with the other Minicons.

Megatron thought about his next course of action for a minute, and only a minute, before continuing on his way. Leader-1 tried to catch up to his master's long strides.

"You aren't going to look for them?" He inquired.

"Unlike Prime's lackey, I can trust my lieutenant to take care of herself. And as for Starscream," Megatron chuckled. "Self preservation is a running gag for that ambitious fool. He'll be fine as well. Right now I have a job to do, and I intend to finish it."

Leader-1 scanned the local area for the panel's signal and saw that it was only a few feet ahead of him. He relayed the information to Megatron, who grinned.

They went deeper into the forest, where the sun's light barely shown through the trees. Then they made it out of the dense brush and found themselves at the edge of some courtyard.

"Wow, I was not expecting this." Leader-1 said.

It was a temple of some kind, one that had to be dedicated to some deity that the humans worshipped. The ground was oddly smooth and polished, despite the entire place having been abandoned for thousands of years. The floor was tiled with extravagant murals that went around in a circle, each one depicting a man performing some task. And at the center of these murals was a statue, one that sent a sharp pain through Megatron's spark.

'What is this?'

The statue depicted the broken form of a woman being held in the arms of a man with half his face missing. The woman, who was little more than a torso, was caressing the broken side of the man's face with her one arm. Both figures were staring at each other with unbridled love.

" _I'm so sorry Megatron. I wasn't strong enough."_

He gritted his teeth as a memory rose up from the depths of his mind. Images of a broken body in his arms, buildings and bots destroyed and burning around them, the soft feel of a dainty hand running down his face as he watched the light fade from her eyes.

"Lord Megatron?" Leader-1 said. "Are you alright?"

A song rang in Megatron's head now. One that he heard before. It was a soft melody that he would hear after every gladiator match he fought in the Pits, a low humming that increased in tone as it reached its climax. Megatron covered his audio receptors but the song still rang in his head, getting louder and louder until he couldn't even hear his own voice any more.

"STOP IT!" He roared.

" _Megatron, I want you to remember that I will always be with you. Be it in person or in spirit. But know that if you want to realize your dream, then you must take charge. Never give in, never show weakness. Because it is by showing defiance that you prove to them that you are a threat the likes they have never seen before. Someone they cannot subjugate. When they realize that they cannot silence you, or coerce you to take a different path, that is when they'll learn that you are stronger than all of them combined. Such is the strength of the individual heart, your heart."_

" _Thank you, Elmeth."_

Megatron's eyes snapped opened and he let out a mighty roar that could be heard from all over the island.

"KRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

Leader-1 jumped back as he felt some sort of wave wash over the area, and then realized that the air felt much lighter than before, something he did not realize until now. Megatron was on one knee, panting and holding a hand to his aching head.

"Lord Megatron?" Leader-1 said slowly. He didn't want to be anywhere near the warlord if he was to have another outburst like that.

"Leader-1, powerlink with me right now." Megatron said gruffly.

"Wha-"

"DO IT!"

Leader-1 transformed and connected to Megatron's left arm, deploying his arm blade coated in electricity. Megatron forced himself to his feet and called out into the darkness that set over the temple.

"Come out and face me! Your illusions will not work on me anymore!"

The air in front of the statue shimmered like water before a form appeared. It looked like some floating statue, with a vaguely humanoid shape that was stuck in a large V shape. It had a body shaped like a curved musical note, with two large wings connected to the main body with stony veins and blue crystalline armor that ran along its spine over its head, covering its eyes but leaving its mouth exposed. A crystal orb floated above its head.

"Who are you?" Megatron asked.

"I am Allegretto, leader of the Muses, and queen of Lemnos." Allegretto said and a smirk spread across her blue painted lips. "And I know who you are, Megatron of Tarn."

Megatron pointed his sword at her person. "You should know better than to try to defeat me with magic tricks! Who do you think you are?"

Allegretto's smirk grew wider. "God."

That was it. Megatron fired his fusion cannon at her, the weapon's power amped up by the powerlink he had with Leader-1. To his surprise, the beam was diverted away from Allegretto before it could even reach within a foot of her.

"Don't think it will be easy to kill me, machine. I am more than just clay and crystal!"

The orb on her head grew brighter and fired a beam so luminous that it blinded Megatron with its radiance. He had enough sense to jump to the side to avoid the blast, and felt the heat scorch his armor as it hit the trees behind him, carving a smoking path for about a mile before stopping.

"Try as you might to kill me, you will only wear yourself down. Even as we speak my sisters prey upon the memories of your fellow warriors, and grow stronger from them." Allegretto said. "It is no use."

"The last person to say that to me I killed him with my bare hands!" Megatron shouted. "No one if greater than Megatron!"

Megatron charged forward to battle this witch of stone, ready for what was to be a very hard battle.

XXXXXXX

Starscream burst out of the ground in his jet mode with five beams of light chasing after him. He performed a series of maneuvers in the air to get the beams to crisscross and crash into one another, making them all explode. Not long after, another larger form rose out of the ground and into the sky at break-neck speeds after him.

The goddess known as Grave of the Muses was a being unlike anything Starscream had seen before. Her body was massive, around the size of a fully grown 20 feet tall Adamanchelid; sporting a thick body with four short stubby legs with the bottom half of a feminine face at the base of a large stony monolith that rose from her back. Two thick wings were on the sides of her body, but they only seemed to be there for decoration, as she was flying by the use of some unknown power.

"Why do you run, when I can chase you to the ends of this world and the next? You did not run from your sister, and she was much more savage than I." Grave said.

"Shut up!" Starscream fired two cruise missiles at her. But when they got in close, they exploded just inches from her face.

"What hope do you have against me, a muse of the song of pain?" Grave laughed. She opened her mouth and sang a low note that rose in tempo.

From her song her body glowed before the light gathered around her in a halo and extended outwards. Starscream only had time to feel his body get heavier before he was sent crashing onto the beach. The force of his impact shook the beach and sent sand flying everywhere.

"Move boss!" Zapmaster shouted.

Starscream snatched up Zapmaster and used the thrusters in his feet to push himself off the ground. A millisecond later the spot where he was just in caved in like all the gravity in the world had compressed in that single spot.

"You, a warrior who fears the earth so much that you scorn those who are not blessed with flight. I shall burn your wings and anchor you to the ground for your hubris!" Grave declared.

"Don't you ever shut up!" Starscream growled. He pumped all his power into his feet and shot into the air.

Zapmaster brought out his null ray as he flew at Grave like a bullet. Grave sang once more and this time Starscream felt the air around him get thicker. He dived to the side just as a deep boom rumbled in the air, and kept charging ahead.

The air was alive with deafening booms as Grave tried to crush Starscream into oblivion. Each time the seeker avoided such a fate, but the attacks were getting more and more faster, with the chances of failure and death increasing with each second.

'Let's finish this!' Starscream thought. He flew high enough so that he was on Grave's level and fired his null ray.

"Arrogance fool." Grave sang and the beam grew smaller until it dissipated a few inches from her. But when she went to attack Starscream, she didn't see him anywhere. "What?"

Then she felt something sharp poke her in the back. "Time for your encore."

Grave screamed melodiously as the full powered null beam tore into her body and blasted her face apart. Starscream wasn't taking any chances as he made sure to destroy any part of her body that could still attack him. When he was done all that was left was dust in the wind.

And so the first sister fell.

XXXXXXX

The crystal cavern shook violently as a high pitch scream reverberated throughout the area. Nightshade hid behind a pillar to avoid a sonic wave that crushed the stone next to her into dust.

Her opponent was as vicious as she was thorough. Fortissimo of the Muses was a being who looked like some deformed tuning fork. Her body was like red clay, and she had no arms or legs, only two short spiky stumps in place of arms, and slightly larger protrusions on her lower half, one longer than the other. Her face was made of marble and floated unassisted in a beige headdress.

"I thought you liked music, my dear?" Fortissimo mocked in Damus's voice. "Don't tell me you like that new age crap these humans listen to!"

She opened her mouth and released a strong high frequency wave at Nightshade's hiding place. The femme ducked out of cover just before the stone pillar was pulverized by the sonic attack and vaporized.

"Not when I hear singing as bad as yours!" Nightshade replied. She fired a blast from her railgun, but the muse floated aside to dodge the beam. "What are you? What is your quarrel with us?"

"Our quarrel?" Fortissimo repeated. Her voice was soft like tinkling glass, but had a murderous edge to it. "Quarrels are for mortals. We are goddesses, and this island is our domain. Your lives were forfeit the minute you stepped foot on our shores! But fear not, for through death, you will avoid the eventual end of the old world as we usher in the new one."

"Great," Nightshade ducked under another wave and fired again at the muse. "A religious nut who thinks she's some deity. I don't believe in gods."

"But you do believe in the closest thing to one. Tell me, how long will it take for you to realize that Megatron's heart belongs to another? He will never love you the way he loved the other one!"

"…THAT'S IT, YOU'RE FRAGGING DEAD!"

Nightshade took on her beast mode and flew at Fortissimo. The muse sang a devastating sonic wave at her that hit her body with the force of an Omega Sentinel, but she kept charging forward. Fortissimo was surprised as she was rammed into by the black bird and was sent crashing through the wall. They went smashing through three layers of rock before emerging in the jungle, where Nigtshade flew back and fired her missile darts at Fortissimo.

The darts exploded around the muse like miniature landmines, blowing off pieces of her clay skin. She scowled at the Con with her pale, cracked features and sent a sonic wave that deflected the darts and crashed into Nightshade's right side at full force. The attack crushed her arm and mangled her wing, but she fought through the pain to deliver one final strike.

Songbird delivered the final blow, lifting Nightshade's arm and firing a plasma beam that blasted Fortissimo's head to pieces. The rest of her body shuddered one final time before falling to the ground, dead.

Songbird separated from Nightshade and climbed onto her knee. "Mistress, are you okay?"

"Y-yes Songbird, I'm fine." Nightshade hissed as she tried to move her damaged arm. "Just a little banged up. Nothing a few minutes of rest won't fix."

'Megatron, be careful. These things are no joke.' Thought Nightshade. 'This planet just got a lot more dangerous.'

XXXXXXX

Megatron cursed as he was forced to dodge another beam from the crystal ball. Allegretto had him on the defensive, making sure he didn't gain enough ground to fire his fusion cannon. Smart. She knew that was his most powerful weapon.

"Why do you resist? I am trying to give you a merciful death." Allegretto said. "You should be honored to be killed by me."

"Why do you continue your pointless chatter? You're no different from any other worthless life form on this world. Always talking and not enough action." Megatron retorted.

"And yet my planet is not on the verge of death."

Megatron fired his cannon, and she flew past the beam to deliver a blast from her orb. He ducked under the blast but it caught his shoulder, burning off a piece of his armor.

"It will when I'm finished with it!" He roared.

Megatron planted his feet on a stone pillar and launched himself forward at her. She fired a beam that caught him in the arm but he stabbed his sword at her face. Before he could impale her, Allegretto summoned a shield of light to block the attack. Megatron tried to force his blade through but it could not pass through her defense.

Allegretto smirked and sent the shield outward, releasing a force wave that knocked Megatron back and sent him flying into a broken wall. She floated over to him and stared down at his damaged form, trying to keep her arrogance at bay. Such feelings were not befitting of a goddess serving under the Divine Mother.

"Megatron of Tarn, the fallen hero who failed to deliver on his promises of freedom and prosperity for his people. You have sacrificed much to get to where you are now, even the life of the only person you loved. And what do you have to show for it? A dead world? A dying species?" Allegretto asked.

Megatron smiled through a mouth of broken teeth. "Nothing you'll live long enough to see."

A pair of twin pulse blasts shot the crystal ball and shattered it. Allegretto screamed in shock and spun around to see Leader-1 in vehicle mode backing up, his orange cannons smoking from their shot. A large metal hand reached out and grabbed the muse by the throat, pulling her close so that she could look into his red eyes.

"Now I ask the questions. What are you? Who sent you here to this world?" Megatron growled.

Despite being near death, Allegretto smiled. "We were born on this world long ago, shaped from Gaia by the hands of our Mother. This world is ours, and you will not take it from us."

Megatron scowled and squeezed harder until he felt her stone skin crush under his grip. He released her and let her fall to the ground. Even as he body began to crumble away, she was still laughing.

"You think you're all powerful, but you have no idea what your arrival to this world has wrought upon yourselves. You will live through your battles, only to see everyone and everything you care about crumble to dust and be left with a kingdom of corpses. And when the end of the world comes, I will be there to sing of your demise." Allegretto said. Then finally the light began to fade from her body. "May the Divine Mother grace you…"

Allegretto's body crumbled to pieces and Megtron stared down at her body, holding his injured shoulder. He did nothing until he heard Leader-1 walk up to him.

"Lord Megatron, I found the panel." He said. "It was at the foot of the statue."

"Good. Locate Nightshade and Starscream and call Soundwave for a ground bridge. We're leaving this hell hole."

"Yes sir."

Leader-1 scampered off and left Megatron alone in the courtyard. He stared at the statue of the man holding the dying woman in his arms. He didn't show it, but Allegretto's machinations brought up memories that he hadn't felt since he began the war. These memories hurt, a lot.

He raised his arm and blew the statue to pieces with his fusion cannon. Then he walked away, his eyes closed and spark heavy.

"Nevermore."


	14. Feet of clay, Head of Gold

Chapter 14-Feet of Clay, Head of Gold

Optimus stood on a group of rocks by the sea, doing his usual exercise of practicing with his axe skills. Even a seasoned soldier would be amazed at the ease at which he twirled his axe, performing complicated maneuvers so fast that the weapon was just an orange blur in the air.

Not too far from him, jazz was sitting in the seiza position meditating. It was strange for a bot who was known for being so loud and jovial to be sitting as still as a rock, but this was Jazz's thing as a cyber-ninja of the late Master Yoketron.

Gina was sitting on the beach, with Kevin, and the Minicons Sparkplug, D-Va and Tracer, while Road Storm sat apart from them snoozing. Prowl loomed over them watching Gina work her historical magic. After having studied the log book that they found in the ship of the Argonaut Atalanta, Gina was showing them the accumulated data she had deduced so far.

"Okay, so we're here, in Delos." She pointed to the tiny dot near the highlighted red area. "And these are the Agean Islands. One of these islands is the resting place of the Argo, and the location of the Minicon panel; Crete, Colchis and Hesperides."

"We still don't know where the panel is? Couldn't we track it?" Tracer asked. Sparkplug shook his head.

"Not until it activates itself. This is a premature mission, we have to rely on the route the Argo last took if we want to find the panel." He explained.

"Not to mention that is only in the case scenario if the ship is still in one piece." Prowl pointed out. "If the ship has been destroyed, then we will have a difficult time finding the panel at the bottom of the sea."

"That's wonderful news." D-Va grumbled.

"And there's a slim chance that there are still some Golems running around on these islands as guardians of past civilizations that lived on these islands." Gina said.

It wasn't uncommon for Golems, the ancient robotic warriors of the Arians, to still be operational after thousands of years. It was one of the enigmas of Arian technology, no one knew how these primitive but destructive machines could survive the ravages of time and still be able to operate on their own. It was one of the dangers of snooping around Arian ruins. The next Golem you find could easily sit up and try to kill you in a heartbeat.

"Can we just focus on the pros? We have a rough estimate of where we need to go." Kevin pointed out. "We just need to pick an island and go."

"Doesn't this mean we'll have to search each island from top to bottom?" Tracer asked. She pouted when both Gina and Prowl nodded.

"Yeah, sorry but its unavoidable Tracer, we need to be absolutely sure that the island doesn't have the panel before moving on." Gina said.

"So what's our first target?" Bumblebee asked.

Optimus stopped his exercise and jumped off the sharp rocks and landed next to the group. "The most logical choice would be the island closest to us."

Gina pointed to the island that was shaped like a tear drop. "Crete."

"Well then," Prowl said. "What are we waiting for? We don't have all day."

XXXXXXX

Knockout was already cursing his luck the moment he stepped onto the sandy beach of the island of Hesperides. He was never a fan of beaches, the sand got into places that was hard to clean, and the salty air did a number on his smooth finish.

Behind him, Barricade and Lugnut followed him out the ground bridge. Sitting on Lugnut's shoulder was Search, the Mini-Con that Megatron had granted him upon returning from Lemnos. Search was a plain looking mech with light brown armor that turned copper around his knees. He had a blue visor and brown faceplate. One thing of note about him was that his arms lacked any hands, instead they were laser cannons, which in hindsight wasn't a good modification considering he had no hands to hold things with, making him pretty useless outside of battle. But still, it was the thought that counts.

"Alright, remind me why lord Megatron isn't dragging Starscream along on this mission? I thought we were following a lead." Knockout complained.

"Lord Megatron and Lady Nightshade are still recovering from their battle against the aliens." Barricade told him. "As is Starscream. After hearing what they went through, Barricade doesn't blame them."

"As if we weren't having enough problems with the Autobots, now we have to worry about deadly singing statues as well." Knockout groaned. Lugnut hit him on the shoulder, sending him to the ground. "Watch the finish you single-minded brute!"

"We have come here on a mission for lord Megatron and I intend to carry it out! I will not have you speaking traitorous words on the field, do you understand?" Lugnut growled. Knockout shot up and shifted his hand into his energo-saw.

"I understand that you'll be picking pieces of your optics out of your cranium when I'm done with you!" He snarled.

Before any shots could be fired, Barricade swung his gyro-blades to force the two apart. "Stop this! We have a job to do, if you scrapheaps haven't noticed! We need to find the panel before the Autobots or lord Megatron will turn us inside out!"

"Oh come on, let them fight. It'll be exciting!" Search said eagerly. Barricade gave him a withering glare.

"We need to focus and do our jobs. Can we do that?" He asked.

Knockout and Lugnut looked at each other before grumbling.

"Fine, I guess we can hold off the dissection until a later date." The medic said.

"In the name of the mighty lord Megatron I shall hold myself back for the time being." Lugnut nodded. Then added, "But after this mission I will grind your bones into dust!"

"Just shut up and go." Barricade sighed. He really hated working with these bots. It was like trying to hold an intelligent conversation with a Constructicon.

XXXXXXX

The travel to Crete was short and sweet, no hassle, no obstacles, and definitely no Cons. The Autobots and their smaller allies arrived on the shore of the island's beach via a ground bridge and not even a second on the island and already they ran into something that was in no way ordinary.

Standing there on the beach was a statue. It was tall, around three head taller than Optimus, who was 25 feet tall. The statue was built in the likeliness of a human, a man sculpted to visual perfection, much like other Grecian works of art. Its arms were raised up in praise and its head tilted towards the sun in reverence, eyes closed. The metal that composed this marvel was bronze, and looked spotless save for a few patches of rust from the sea air. Whoever built this made sure to leave an impression on all who saw this.

"Just when you've thought you've seen everything." Optimus said.

"What is it with you humans making statues ten times larger than you? Seriously, it's not like I feel small enough next to these bozos." Road Storm said.

Jazz flicked the Minicon in the back, knocking him off his feet. "Be nice, little dude."

"That'd no statue. It's a Golem." Gina said. She was taking pictures with Skyspy as she spoke. "This thing is called Talon. It's a Golem made by the people who lived on Crete before they left the island. It was supposed to act as a guardian, patrolling the beaches three times a day and attacking anyone who wished to do the island harm."

"Humans made this hundreds of years ago?" Prowl asked and looked down at the kids. "And no one knows how to control them?"

Kevin shrugged. "That's the thing. The Golems were made before the void century, any records on how to control them were destroyed in war."

Optimus narrowed his eyes at the Goelm. A statue made of bronze, which was supposed to wither with age, but looked almost as good as new. He remembered Annie's tale of how the Golem Fenris also survived to centuries on the continuous charge of the hephaestium in the temple of the Aesir. Machines built long before the innovation of electricity and cybernetics, the wonders of an empire that once ruled the whole world for 200 years. He knew this was not possible without the interference of outside forces.

'But that is a worry for another time.' Thought Optimus. Prowl stepped forward.

"Well we aren't going to get any work done standing around," He said. "I suggest that we split up into teams and-"

The minute he tried to walk past the foot of Talon, the Golem's foot said to the side, hitting Prowl with enough force to send him flying across the beach before rolling to a stop in the sand.

"Prowl!" Optimus yelled.

"That's it!" Tracer shouted glaring up at the giant in a rare display of anger. "No one hurts my BFF like that and gets away with it!"

"Tracer no!" D-Va tried to stop her but the orange femme was already racing forward.

Hovering across the sand on turbines in her feet, Tracer extended her electro-whips and began slashing at Talon's feet. Obviously she didn't do enough damage to affect the man of bronze, but her attacks did leave burning scorch marks in the metal. It wasn't until she hit near its heel that it began to move.

"Move it girl!" Jazz yelled. He sped forward with speeds that surpass an Olympic runner and scooped Tracer up in his arms before Talon could crush the Minicon under its heel. He just made it out of the Golem's shadow as the foot came crashing down, sending sand everywhere, and the shockwave blew the Autobots away.

Talon's arms moved with a painful slowness attained from centuries of inactivity. A loud groan sounded from its joints as its upper body moved and bent forward, angling its face downward. Then its eyes opened, and the Autobots found themselves staring into two orbs that looked like they were made of condensed flames.

"Oh hell no!" D-Va snatched up Kevin and Gina, transforming into her modified hovercraft mode and sped away from the suddenly hostile goliath.

"Autobots, fall back!" Optimus said. He transformed and drove towards the forest, the only place where they could get some cover. 'This is a bit familiar. I thought I was done with this after fighting the Gojulas with Metroplex.'

Prowl and Jazz followed his lead with their respective Minicons trailing after them. Road Storm, ever the optimist, chose this moment to say his witty comment of the day.

"Well this went about as well as I expected."

"Not now Road Storm!" Prowl shouted.

Talon's blue eyes followed the tiny forms of the Autobots, his programme dictated that it eliminate any intruders who did Crete harm, and that was an order it intended to follow. Raising its mighty copper toned fist, Talon threw a punch at the Autobots. It was only thanks to its slow movements that the Autobots were able to get out of the way before the punch could smash them all into scrap.

From the safety of the trees, Kevin, Gina and D-Va almost fell off the branches as the punch from the giant made the entire island rumble. A single punch from Talon was almost enough to create a deep hole all the way through to the bedrock underneath the island. Talon pulled its fist from the ground and swiped its hand in an attempt to bat Jazz aside.

"Oh man this is nuts." Kevin said. He winced when Jazz was inches away from being backhanded off the island by the Golem. "And you do this every time you go on a mission?"

"Sometimes," Gina shrugged. She was recording everything on Sky Spy, intending on showing this to Annie later and making the girl super jealous. "Though, it's a lot more tame than getting punched at by a Golem."

"You are way to calm about all this." He pointed out.

"You'll get used to it. The near death experiences and loud explosions get a bit stale and routine after a while unless something strange happens."

Talon's sapphire eyes tracked the Autobots movements and attacked them with timed punches or kicks. It blocked them from driving into the forest, intent on keeping them out in the open and on the run. The island would shake with every punch of its fist or a kick of its feet. Their only solace was that the Golem's movements were slow and predictable.

Jazz was getting tired of playing chicken with the distant cousin of the Colossus of Rhodes. They were wasting energon and valuable time.

"This is getting old, time to kick it up a little!" Jazz exclaimed. "Road Storm, you ready?"

"No, but you're gonna force me to do it anyway!"

"Exactly! Link up little dude!"

Jazz transformed just as Road Storm linked up to him. He fired his grappling hook at the Golem's leg and pulled himself in the air. Yelling like a mad mech, Jazz swung himself onto Talon's leg and began shooting his cryo-emitter at the ancient being's bronze skin.

The blasts of condensed liquid nitrogen mixed with thousand year old bronze equals very brittle metal that shatters on impact. The cyber-ninja unleashed as many shots as he could before swinging his body around to avoid Talon's massive hand.

Optimus and Prowl were shooting at Talon's legs. Their blasts were doing damage, but they were like annoying mosquito bites against the much larger automaton. Prowl fired a photon blast at one of its feet and hit the ankle, sending sparks everywhere.

Talon let out a scream that could be heard for miles, a rusty sounding wail that sent shivers down the spines of those close enough. Optimus looked at its heel and saw that it was leaking some form of golden fluid.

"Attack the heel!" Optimus yelled. "That's its weak point!"

He opened fire with his ion cannon, bombarding the back of Talon's heel with overwhelming firepower. They were forced to back off when Talon kicked at them, its diamond hard toes smashing into a boulder and sent it flying. Talon glared down at the Autobots and spotted Prowl running in front of it, shooting at its feet. With a growl, it kneeled down and punched its fist onto the Autobot, thinking it had finally killed one of the intruders.

But then Prowl's body faded from view and he reappeared behind its foot, with Tracer power linked onto his right forearm. With a mighty yell, he punched Talon's heel in a burst of energy. The punch was strong enough to break through the reinforced bronze armor of Talon and a flood of golden liquid came spurting out of the wound. At the same time, Optimus stabbed his battle blade into the other foot, almost taking it off as the superheated blade nearly cut all the way through the ankle.

Talon groaned once more, before the light in its eyes began to dim and it fell to its knees. Falling on all fours, it tried to grab at the Autobots with one hand, but its movements slowed drastically. Gears grinded to a stop, pistons stopped shifting, and ichor, divine blood, flowed freely from its body.

The mighty Talon was dead, frozen in place like the relic it was.

Jazz and Prowl joined Optimus in studying the goliath, all three were not damaged but they were slightly tired from the encounter.

"That was a doozey." Jazz said, looking up at the Golem. Even when immobile, it still looked intimidating. "You okay Prowler? You took a nasty hit there."

"I'm fine. Tracer's linkage helped repair some of the damage I took from its kick." Prowl said, giving the rare smile to the Minicon sitting on his shoulder. "Thank you for the assistance."

If Tracer could blush, she would be beet red by now. "Aw, it was nothing. Anything for a friend."

The moment was cut short when they heard Gina shout from the forest.

"Hey guys, we need to move now!" She yelled to them. "The panel just went online!"

XXXXXXX

Hesperides, one of the islands in the Deldaros Ocean near Europa, was a crescent shaped island east of Colchis. Like Crete it also harbored a small forest of tropical trees and other vegetation, but this gave way to rocky crags that jutted from the sea at the heart of the island.

The three Con team trudged their way through the tall palm trees in their exploration of the island. They had no idea what exactly they were looking for aside from a human ship that may have sunken on any three of the islands. The lack of information was a bit frustrating but it was to be expected when searching for an un-activated Minicon panel.

"Have you detected anything yet, Search?" Barricade asked.

"Nope, I got nothing. No anomalies, no signals, just dead air." Search said. He was in his alt mode with a small dish rotating around on his cab trying to detect any Minicon frequencies.

"Great, so our little walking satellite dish is useless. Who could've guessed?" Knockout groused.

"Shut up, Knockout. No one asked for your opinion." Lugnut said. Knockout gave him an obscene finger gesture and kept walking.

It didn't take them long to reach the center of the island. There they found what looked like military barracks that was very old, and a small courtyard. Nothing special, but it was what was inside the courtyard that caught their attention.

It was some sort of field of bronze statues, twelve each in rows of four. They were obviously human made, but they were built in the form of a humanoid torso sitting on top of a lion's lower body. Unknown to the Cons, these were Golems called Hoplites. They were the vanguard of the Grecian branch of the Arian empire, and this particular contingent was left here waiting for any poor soul who wandered near them.

Knockout hummed in appreciation at their construction, walking closer to take a closer look at the rather good looking automatons. "Crudely made, but they look rather lavish, don't you think?"

"Enough fooling around! We must carry on with our mission!" Lugnut said. Knockout waved him off.

"Blow it out your exhaust pipe, nuts and bolts, I just want to take a closer look." He leaned in close to one of the Hoplites and gazed at his reflection. If there was one thing he liked about these primitive creations, it's that it allowed him to get a good look at himself. "I look good in bronze, better in gold."

"Knockout, let's go!" Barricade yelled.

"In a minute, I just need to…" Knockout tried to scratch off a smudge of dirt marring his reflection in one of the Hoplites. That was his first mistake.

The minute Knockout touched its armor the Hoplite grabbed him by the neck and threw him over the yard into a pond. The Golem began to twitch and move, its rusty joints groaning with each movement. Barricade and Lugnut readied their weapons when the other Hoplites also began to move, and set their jeweled eyes on the first thing they saw-them.

"Well you've certainly made our day fun, Knockout." Search said mildly. "How has no one asked you out to parties?"

"Not now Search!" Knockout yelped as he ducked under a spear thrown by one of the Hoplites. To his surprise and horror the spear hit a boulder and almost pierced right through the stone, burying itself half way through. "Oh slag."

The Hoplites were now fully mobile, stalking towards the Cons on their powerful feline legs, their spears and shields raised in preparation for a fight. Lugnut fired a missile from his shoulder cannon at them, but the missile exploded harmlessly against the Golem's shields.

In response to the attack, the Hoplites grouped together to form a phalanx formation, shields in the front blocking any frontal assaults, with their spears poking through the gaps. They advanced upon the three Cons with their hephaestium laced shields and forced them back.

"Barricade will not yield to a bunch of soulless machines!" Barricade growled and ran forward with his gyro-blades spinning at full speed.

The phalanx formations blocked his strikes, tough the blades did gouge holes into their shields. Barricade was knocked back by a blow to the face from one Hoplite, and another jammed its spear into his shoulder joint. The warrior grabbed at the spear and broke the shaft before slicing his blades across the Hoplite's neck, beheading it.

That was one down, but the others were quickly mobilizing in numbers. Lugnut bashed two Hoplites away with his mace, but three more swarmed him just as he was gearing up for another strike. They all stabbed into his arms and legs, and though it wasn't enough to drop him, it severely limited his mobility.

Knockout deployed his saw, slashing at any Hoplites that came his way. His saw easily cut through their bronze armor, but it did little to help him when they started chucking spears at him. He yelped when one spear grazed his chest, scratching the paint off his armor deeply.

"As if I didn't have enough to worry about with the damn humidity ruining my looks!" Knockout growled. He turned to Lugnut. "You! Hurry up and powerlink you stupid brute before we get diassembled!"

Lugnut growled at the insult but did as he was told. Search ran up and transformed into his anti-aircraft truck mode, linking to Lugnut's arm. The Con's three clawed hand transformed into some form of a pressure plate with a red button on top.

Knockout and Barricade quickly cleared the line of fire so as to not get caught up in Lugnut's highly destructive attack. Once the Hopites were in range, he slammed his fist into the ground. What followed next could've been mistaken for a thunderclap.

A large gravitational wave shot from Lugnut's weapon, reverberating through the ground like a sonic boom and hitting the Hoplites with enough physical force to shatter the ancient Golems on impact. They were thrown into the air like toy soldiers and the ground beneath Lugnut was uprooted by the large explosion that followed.

Though they were not close to the point of detonation, the shockwave from the blast still knocked Barricade and Knockout off their feet. But thankfully it didn't last very long and within seconds it was over.

Lugnut stood in the middle of large crater that used to be the garrison, which was now filling up with water. Knocked looked over at the remains of the Hoplites and whistled.

"Nice job, though a bit flashy." He said.

"You're one to talk." Lugnut said.

"Enough of that. We've wasted enough time here with these machines," Barricade said. "Let's return to the beach and-"

"Hold it!" Search split from Lugnut and activated his radar equipment. "I'm getting something!"

"Is it the Minicon?" Knockout asked.

"Yeah, the signal is close by but it's not on this island." Search said.

XXXXXXXXX

Indeed the moment the panel came online, it was revealed that both teams were wrong about their initial beliefs. The Argo, and by extension the Minicon which they seek, was located on the central island, Colchis.

Upon learning this, both teams immediately headed for the island, arriving on Colchis at different sides of the beach, neither knowing that the other was on the island with them. Whether this was by coincidence or a quirk of fate was to be debated, but at this moment, both sides were nearing their goal.

"Not again." Kevin groaned.

The Autobots were facing yet another Golem, this one was different. It was not the titanic automaton that Talon was, but it was large enough, around the size of an elephant. It was a bull, one made of bronze, but with horns made of silver and eyes made of rubies. It was a beautiful creation, even more so if it wasn't snorting steam from it nostrils and digging trenches in the sand with its hooves. It did not look happy.

"Why am I not surprised?" Jazz sighed. Optimus drew his ion cannon.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Optimus said. He looked down at the smaller members of their group. "Tracer, D-Va take Kevin and Gina to the Argo and get the panel. "

"But I want to fight with you guys! We can help to." Tracer whined. Prowl shook his head.

"You'll be helping us by doing your job. Escort the children to the ship and get the panel. We'll be fine here." He told her.

Tracer sighed but nodded. She'll do it, but only because Prowl told her so.

When the kids made their escape on Tracer and D-Va, Optimus turned to the bull which was staring right at him. He didn't know if it was because it singled him out as a threat or if his red armor attracted its attention. He recalled Annie saying something about bulls and red objects, but now isn't the time to think of such things.

"So what's the plan?" Jazz asked. Prowl pulled out his photon rifle.

"We hit it hard and fast. Something this big must have a weakness."

"Then let's find it." Optimus said.

The bull snorted and charged forward. The Autobots fired their weapons at it, but they were surprised to see that their bolts were bouncing off the bull's metal skin. They jumped apart before it could gore them with its long horns, and Optimus noticed that the bronze was laced with barely noticeable traces of hephaestium, of course.

"The bronze is reinforced with hephaestium, our blaster fire won't do much without wasting too much energon." Optimus told his subordinates.

"Then how do we fight it?" Prowl asked.

"The old fashion way."

The bull spun around and charged at them again. This time, Optimus pulled out his axe and sword, running at the bull. They both neared each other, and just when he was close enough, Optimus jumped on the bull's head and cut into its metal skull with the blade of his axe. The bull reared its head back and stood up on its hind legs trying to buck the Prime off.

Jazz and Prowl rushed in to give their leader a hand, firing their weapons at the beast's legs. Optimus held onto the bull's head with his axe, and his free hand was grabbing onto one of its horns tightly. On his shoulder, Sparkplug held on for dear life.

"This is insane!" Sparkplug shouted.

"Ironhide would say the same thing in your position." Optimus noted.

"How can you be so calm in this situation?!"

"This isn't the first time I had to ride on the back of a rabid animal. I'll tell you about that time I fought the Gojulas in the middle of Iacon after the mission."

Jazz fired a volley of nitrogen blasts from his rotating cry-emitter at the bull's hind legs. The blasts made contact but shattered too quickly for the freezing to take effect.

"Jazz, grapple its feet, we'll bring it down." Prowl said.

The cyber-ninja fired his grappling hook at one of its feet and began to pull with all of his might. But the bull snarled and jumped up, bringing its legs forward and pulling the grappling line along with them. Not expecting such a move, Jazz was pulled forward and took a strong kick to the chest from the bull's golden hooves.

"Jazz!" Prowl ran over to him. The kick had severely dented Jazz's chest plate, and he was sure that some of his internal circuitry was damaged. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, it's just a mesh wound." Jazz laughed but grimaced as he felt a sharp pain in his chest. "Mostly…"

The bull turned to them and snorted piping hot steam from its nose and ran at them. But to their surprise, the bull did not try to skewer them, it exhaled a wave of fire that reached a very long distance. Prowl pulled Jazz out of the way but not before he felt the flames lick at the door panels on his back.

The bull spun its body around and ran away from them, using its flames to burn a path for its large body as it charged into the forest.

"Where does he think he's going?" Jazz questioned. Then both he and Jazz realized the answer.

"The children!"

XXXXXXX

Gina had to admit, after all the fun she was having looking around for the legendary Argo, it was nice to finally have some clue about where to look for a change. She led her little group of four through the forest with Sky Spy leading the way.

"We're getting close, just a few more feet due north." Gina said. She noticed that they were going in the same direction as the stream that led to the sea.

"Do you think the Bots are ok?" Tracer asked.

"Of course they are, they've been doing this kind of thins long before we were forged." D-Va said. She noted that her partner was unusually worried about their large friends. "Why are you so worried? You're usually gung ho by now?"

"No reason!" Tracer squeaked. She certainly didn't want D-Va to know that she wasn't exactly worried for ALL the Autobots.

Kevin decided to spare Tracer any further embarrassment by cutting into their conversation. "Focus ladies, we're almost at the location."

As luck would have it, they were at their destination. Gina pushed through the brush and they found themselves inside a cove of some kind, not unlike the one where they found the Cynisca, but it was much larger.

The cove was full of jagged rocks that jutted out from the water and were close enough to make passing through them a pipe dream. The pond that coalesced into the small beach area flowed down stream and led to the sea around the island. But the reason for them being here was sitting among the rocky spikes near the shore.

The Argo that Jason used to travel all around Grecia was a large battleship built to last decades. The kids and Minicons looked at the remains of the once mighty ship dashed across the rocks as if it was thrown there by nature herself. And the thing was a wreck, the front half of the ship was still sitting on the rocks, the wood half rotten and soggy. The bottom half of the ship had to be underwater.

"That is a big ship." Kevin said.

"It belonged to a big man." Gina said. "Now let's hurry up and get the panel before the Cons come knocking."

"And where are we supposed to look?" D-Va asked. She had no idea where to look on a ship this primitive.

"If the panel is as sacred as the stories described it, then it should be inside a locked chest to keep it safe from anyone who would steal it. Just look for a chest of some sort."

Gina was already in the water making her way towards the ship when Sky Spy came back from scouting. The little drone landed on her shoulder and began showing her images of Barricade and Knockout walking through the forest.

"Well they certainly got here fast." Tracer said. "You go on ahead and get the panel four eyes, we'll stall for time."

"And I'm coming with you." Kevin said. Neither femme said anything against it, but Gina wasn't as thrilled.

"What? But I need you here for protection! What if something happens?"

"Don't worry, you'll be alright. Just remember your survival training." He told her.

"I don't have any survival training!"

"Then what do you call this?" Kevin retorted before following the Minicons into the forest, hearing Gina yell some very explicit curses his way.

XXXXXXX

"I am so sick of this place." Knockout growled. "As if dealing with those freaky four legged monsters wasn't bad enough, now we have to deal with a giant bull."

"Calm yourself. Lugnut is taking care of the beast as we speak." Barricade said.

Like the Autobots, they had also encountered one of the island's guardian bulls. After getting thrown around like ragdolls by the beast, Knockout had elected to just have Lugnut deal with it while they got the panel. If Lugnut got slagged while fighting the bull, then it was no oil of his ridge.

Knockout had just stepped over a fallen tree when he heard a small female voice yell out.

"FIRE!"

The medic screamed as his entire face was engulfed in flames. He stumbled back into Barricade as Kevin kept bathing his face in large streams of fire that blinded the Con. They both went falling back into a tree, where D-Va was waiting.

D-Va leapt down on Barricade's shoulder and began shooting her pistols into the gaps between his armor. Barricade growled and pushed Knockout off before swiping at her. She flipped over his hand and fired a bolt into his eye, making him rear back in pain.

While she took care of Barricade, Kevin and Tracer got to work on Knockout. He was rubbing his face trying to get the stinging pain out of his eyes as Kevin ran right up to him.

"You don't look so good. I never took you for someone who liked getting a tan." Kevin mocked.

"Shut your mouth you little brat!" Knockout deployed his drill and leapt forward.

Kevin jumped to the side and shot a fireball that exploded on the side of Knockout's head. The Con fell to one knee clutching the side of his head, and didn't notice Tracer appear next to him until she was already marring his armor with her whips.

It was a sure fire strategy; overwhelm the Cons with fast strikes to keep them disoriented until they got confirmation from Gina that the panel was secure. Fighting an enemy that was larger than you was less dangerous when you knew where to hit and how hard to hit it. But they didn't count on the Cons getting over the sudden surprise attack and fighting back in spades.

Barricade slammed his body against a tree, uprooting it and knocking D-Va off his shoulder. Taking out his gyro-blades, he swung them at her in order to cut her in half with almost molecular precision. D-Va twisted her body in the air, gritting her teeth as the blades grazed her front and back, and spun around to fire another shot at him.

Barricade blocked the blasts with his arm and then used his limb to bat her away. She went crashing to the ground hard enough to knock a few parts loose.

"Tracer!" Kevin yelled.

"I know!" She warped out of Knockout's reach and over to her fallen friend. Kevin kept the heat on the two Cons, but he couldn't do much to hold them off.

"I think you better run on home back to you mommy little boy!" Knockout sneered.

"My mom's dead!" Kevin shouted. He charged up his power and shot a large fire ball that forced the Cons back. The fire blast engulfed a tree and quickly made it fall over.

Barricade swung his blades at Kevin too fast for him to process, but just when the blades went near him, they suddenly slowed down. Kevin wondered what was going on as time seemed to slow down for him, then felt two arms wrap around him and pull him out of the blades path. They fell to the ground behind a bush and then time went back to normal again.

"Huh?" Barricade looked around when he failed to see the human's bloody remains on his weapon. "Where are you?"

"What was that?" Kevin asked breathlessly. That was a close call.

"Me," Tracer said, pulling him over to the unconscious D-Va. "Are you injured?"

"No, you got to me just in time." He said. "Speaking of which-"

"I'm an Outlier, love. I can do a lot of things." She said.

It wasn't a secret that she was an outlier, but her powers were not what people thought they were. Her friends thought that she could teleport like Skywarp, but really she had limited control over time itself. In short bursts, Tracer could slow down time long enough to move to another location. To others, it looked like she was moving too fast to see, when really, they were moving too slow to catch her. it was a fun secret that she didn't plan on revealing any time soon.

"Is she alright?" Kevin asked.

"Yeah, but she's hurt badly." Tracer said, looking her friend over. "I don't think she'll be fighting any time soon."

Kevin looked back at Barricade, who was gouging out trees and plants looking for them. "Well as long as we can keep these guys occupied, Gina still has a chance."

Then Tracer noticed something. "Hey, where's Doc Knock?"

Kevin looked around but saw no sign of the red medic. He gave Tracer a troubled look and cursed. He went after the Minicon and Gina!

XXXXXXX

Gina was not having a good time. She had searched the entire front half of the ship, and what had drifted onto the beach, but found no sign of her quarry. Seeing that she still had the other half of the ship to explore, she had no other choice but to take a little swim in the clear waters for the good of the mission, even if she can't swim for shit.

The blonde took off her glasses and ducked under the water, letting Sky Spy lead the way. She awkwardly kicked her legs to propel her into the open hull of the ship, where Sky Spy was detecting the panel.

She forced open her eyes and once they adjusted to the water, she saw the chest lying under the bow of the ship. Hoping that she could hold her breath a little longer, Gina swam up to the chest and tried to pull it up. It barely budged because it was so heavy, so she tried another method.

Gina held Sky Spy to the lock on the chest and pressed a button. A tiny laser shot from its lens and seared into the lock.

'Come on, come on!' She thought. 'I can't keep this up for much longer.'

Thankfully it took only s few seconds to burn through the lock. Once it shattered, Gina swung the lid open and was greeted by the glow of the resonating stasis panel. She almost cheered before holding herself back.

The minute she grabbed the panel, she heard a loud thump on the surface. Gina swam out of the wreck and up to the surface. When she came up with a deep gasp, she was met with an unpleasant surprise.

"Have a nice swim?" Knockout grinned. He loomed over her on the shore, eying the panel in her hand. "And it looks like you're done my job for me. Much obliged."

"Go to hell." Gina sneered. Taking a deep breath, she ducked under the water again and weaved her body to avoid the large hand that tried to grab her.

"Come on you little brat, don't be difficult." Knockout grumbled. Where was a fish bowl when you need one? Then he felt the ground tremble. "Huh?"

He didn't have to ponder much longer, for the trees were suddenly trampled under the foot of the large bronze bull that barreled through them like some force of nature. Knockout only had time to wonder why Optmus Prime was riding the beast before he felt its silver horns tear into his arm and torso and was thrown into the air.

Optimus pulled his axe from the bull's head and brought out his heated blade, stabbing it into the bull's head and not stopping until the point was sticking out of its chin. The bull groaned before its body began to sway and fell over with a thump.

Sparkplug unplugged himself from Prime's arm and fell to the ground in a ragged heap. "Don't ever do that again."

Optimus ran into the water and helped Gina out. He held her in his large hand as she coughed a bit to get the water from her mouth.

"Are you alright, Gina?" He asked softly.

"Yeah," She coughed. "But don't ever expect me to go swimming again. Oh and I got the panel."

Optimus smiled, but the moment was cut short when Barricade appeared behind them.

"Hand over the panel, Prime or I kill your little pets." Barricade held up Kevin, Tracre and D-Va in his hand.

"This is embarrassing." Kevin muttered.

Gina bit her lip at the situation they were in. She looked up at Optimus, who was already making a plan in his head. She knew that he wouldn't risk the lives of Kevin or the Minicons, but sacrificing the panel was out of the option to.

"Barricade is waiting, Prime. Give me the panel, or they all die." Barricade said. "You choice."

"How about a third option?"

A blast of nitrogen hit Barricade's arm and almost immediately froze his limb in seconds. Barricade stared at his arm in shock before Jazz jumped down from the trees and karate chopped the Con's frozen arm off. Barricade cursed as he lost his hostages and made to draw his gyro-blades but saw Optimus point in ion cannon at him.

"Slag."

The cannon blast hit him in the chest and sent him crashing into the trees. Prowl appeared a few minutes later and ran over to the others.

"Are you all in one piece?" He asked.

"Aside from almost drowning, we're all good." Gina said.

"Ow, my whole body hurts." D-Va groaned.

"That's what you get when you're swatted out of the air by a Bulk, love. Don't worry, a few shots of Ferrox will heal you right up." Tracer chirped.

"Yipee." D-Va smiled.

Optimus placed Gina on the ground and she fell on her back next to Kevin.

"You look like you had a fun time." Kevin commented. Gina only groaned in response. "As much fun this was, I think I may take some time off from this. I had no idea how chaotic living with these guys was."

"Don't worry, give it time and you might actually get to see Megatron in the future." She quipped.

"I'm not eager for that."

Optimus held the panel in his hand. "Let's go home Autobots. There's no need for us to be here anymore."

"Amen to that." Road Storm sighed. Powerlinking with Jazz for so long made him stiff.

"Wait, before we go, can one of you go back down there and get the chest for me?" Gina asked. Prowl sighed.

"Gina…"

"Please, this is a historical finding that no one in the world has discovered yet, and this is probably the only time I'll even be here." She begged.

Prowl looked at Jazz, who shrugged, then at Optimus, who did the same. He vented through his nose entered the water. Gina's face lit up like the fourth of July.

"Thank you, Prowl!" Gina sang.

"Don't get used to it." He grumbled and sank into the water for the chest. The things he did for his comrades.

XXXXXXX

Lugnut limped through the forest wit Search on his shoulder. He had just gotten out of a battle with the Colchis Bull and managed to squeeze in a win after getting the slag kicked out of him. His armor was dented and scorched, his right leg was shooting sparks from a hole where the bolvine Golem had impaled its horn into his body, and his left arm was broken.

All in all, everything hurt, but the pain mattered little now that he was going to complete a mission for his one true master.

When he got the location where the panel's signal was last detected, he was met not the triumphant sight of his fellow Cons with the Minicon panel, but with a wound Knockout tending to the severed arm of an equally wounded Barricade.

"What happened? Where is the Minicon?" The mono-eyed Con asked. Knockout gave him a sharp glare.

"What do you think?" He grumbled before going back to his work.

This was the last time he was taking a trip to the tropics.


	15. Home Turf

Chapter 15-Home Turf

Bumblebee stood on a tall hill overlooking the grassy plains that made up the land of Airlann. Having little experience of alien worlds during his short time fighting in the War for Cybertron, it was a treat to see something other than cities of burning metal and grey skies. Honestly it was hard not to fall in love with this planet.

Bumblebee and Wheeljack were in Airlann with their Minicons because they were investigating a lead on a possible Minicon in the countryside. It was discovered by chance by Darren and Annie when web surfing. An old image depicting a Minicon panel popped up on a tapestry belonging to a museum in Airlann, and Bumblebee was quick on the draw to go on this mission with Wheeljack.

They weren't usually a pair, not like the old days back on Cybertron, so he took the chance to spend some time with the slightly reclusive engineer.

"This place looks amazing." Bumblebee smiled. "Hey Wheeljack! Smell the fresh air of the land of the Celts!"

"I smell it alright." Wheeljack grumbled. He didn't look as starstruck as his younger partner, not all that interested in the scenery. "The last time I went to get some fresh air with Jazz, I was knocked out by Starscream. You have no idea how embarrassing it is to be knocked out by that guy."

"Relax Wheeljack, we're in the clear. We've gotten a head start in the Cons." Bumblebee said. He looked at the Minicon riding on Wheeljack's shoulder. "You okay there, Liftor?"

"Y-yes. I'm doing just fine." Liftor said tensely. He was looking every which way like the Decepticons were going to fly in and snatch him away. "Can we get going now? Being out here in the open is getting me antsy."

"In a second, little guy." The scout said that with the feeling of triumph at being able to say 'little guy' so someone that wasn't a human. Boy did it feel good. "Jolt, how are things up there?"

"The area is clear, Bee." Jolt said, circling around them in his alt mode. "And I see a town up ahead. Should we take a look?"

"Yes. We may find some good information from the locals." The scout said. "But be careful about what you say. Airlann is home to some really testy people."

And so they went into the town that held the museum with the tapestry they were holding. After spending twenty minutes trying to find the place on their own, since the locals didn't even bother to try to hide their disdain for the presence of foreigners, Bumblebee and Wheeljack arrived at the museum.

They played themselves off as senior archaeologists trying to find the tomb of a legendary warrior to the museum curator, a kind old lady who looked like she couldn't hurt a fly. When Bumblebee, the certified spokesperson of the group, asked her about the "jewel" in the tapestry, she was all too happy to tell them of one of her favorite heroes.

"Oh this is a tapestry from the thirteenth century, during what was known as the Ulster Cycle, when Airlann was embroiled in a war of succession. The man you see here is the great warrior Cu Chulainn, one of our country's greatest heroes. He had united the warring clans in an alliance that continues to this day despite the constant wars and invasions from other lands, and it was all thanks to this."

She pointed to the small green jewel that the red haired warrior held in his grasp, which shined its radiance down on his men who bowed before him.

"This jewel was found in Cu Chulainn's family castle, and has since been passed down from generation to generation." She continued. "Legends say that he could never be defeated in battle because of it, and upon his death, it was buried with him, along with his spear Gae Bolg."

"Where is he buried exactly?" Wheeljack asked. The curator shrugged and sighed.

"No one can say for certain. For the most part, the logical reason would be that he was buried inside his family castle, but no one has found the tomb." She said. "Though, there are clues, namely that he was buried in a cave of blue crystals."

That caught their attention. "Blue crystals?" Bumblebee echoed.

"Yes, shining blue crystals that could be found all over Airlann. Geologists came from all over the world to see the spectacle, but after a while they just vanished, like they never existed in the first place. In fact I think that I might have a tiny shard I found a few years ago out in the countryside."

She grabbed a small box and opened it, showing them a small worn, but still clear piece of crystal. Bumblebee and Wheeljack looked closely at it then at each other. They were both thinking the same thing. Energon.

"Where did you find this?" The scout questioned. This was the lead they were looking for.

"Over by the Chulainn castle, a few miles from the town. Just drive down the road out of town, you can't miss it."

"Thank you so much for this information, ma'am. You helped us a lot today." Bumblebee said and practically dragged Wheeljack out of the museum.

XXXXXXX

"I told you asking around would be worth it." Bumblebee laughed. "Didn't I tell you?"

"Shut up, Bee." Wheeljack grumbled.

They were driving along the dirt road that went near the sea. The information they had gotten from the curator was very useful for their search. Essentially all they had to do was head to the castle and then look for an energon vein in the area.

"So those humans back in the past buried this guy in a cave full of energon?" Jolt asked.

"Exactly. The curator had a piece of energon sitting on her desk. The ancient humans probably thought that it was some kind of magical stone that granted them power." Wheeljack answered. "And what better way to honor their fallen hero than by burying his tomb in a cave full of the stuff?"

"So how are we supposed to find this tomb then?" Liftor asked. "If the humans couldn't find it, then what can we do?"

"Simple, we go to the Ulster castle and search for energon there. If we find a long vein, then we can follow it to any underground tombs." Bumblebee said.

The Autobots continued down the road towards where Jolt spotted the large castle in the distance. A good distance behind the group, a black helicopter followed silently behind them at a slow pace.

"Blackout to Nightshade, I've spotted the Autobots." Blackout reported. "Looks like our mole shot straight for once."

XXXXXXX

The Ulster castle was about as grand and large as Bumblebee thought it would be. It was a massive fortress that was built near a cliff over by the sea. The weather was windy and huge gusts of wind washed over the green fields of grass that overlooked the castle. It looked like the setting of one of those old medieval movies that Gina made him watch last Friday.

"Wow, the humans certainly knew their stuff." Jolt whistled.

"Indeed. The primitive technology at their disposal is, while a bit impractical, was definitely intuitive during those times of war." Liftor said.

Wheeljack checked his scanner and saw that there was indeed energon under the castle. "Well, your hunch was on the money, Bee. There is energon here, lots of it. But you wouldn't be able to tell unless you were right on top of it."

"Because it's so deep underground right?"

"Yes. All we need to do is follow this energon vein and we might reach our grave." Wheeljack said. "Granted that's a big what if."

"It'll just have to do. We don't have many options." Bumblebee said.

They entered the courtyard, where the concentration of energon was strongest. There Wheeljack began scanning for the vein they were looking for. Jolt and Liftor had separated from their group and were exploring the old castle.

"You know, this place is actually kind of neat." Liftor said. "I can only imagine what it was like for these humans to engineer such weapons from stone and metal."

"It was probably slag. They only used metal for their swords and spears, everything else was just arrows and catapults." Jolt said. He climbed the stairs and looked out the high tower. "What a view, huh?"

"Yeah." Liftor agreed. They were at the top of the lookout tower on the side of the castle, and from there they could see for miles. It was times like this that Liftor was glad he went along on a mission for once, despite the constant fear of getting slagged by the Decepticons.

"Jolt, Liftor, let's go! We're heading out!" Bumblebee shouted from below.

"Okay! Let's get down there." Jolt said. "You want a lift?"

"No, I'll take the stairs if that's alright with you." Liftor said. He turned to head back down the stairs but stopped when he saw something at the corner of his eye. "Hey, what's that?"

"Hmm?" Jolt looked to where his friend was pointing and saw a black shape flying towards the castle. He magnified his optical vision and saw that it was a black hawk helicopter. "Oh, slag."

Blackout also spotted the two Minicons in the tower and prepped his weapons. He took aim at the very top of the watchtower and fired two missiles from the launchers on his undersides.

"Get down!" Jolt pushed Liftor down the stairs just as the missiles hit the tower.

"No!" Wheeljack saw the tower get blown apart in a fiery explosion that sent rubble falling down on them. "Liftor, Jolt!"

"We've got incoming!" Bumblebee yelled.

Blackout hovered in place over the castle courtyard and fired two more missiles down at his enemies. Wheeljack pushed Bumblebee to the ground as the missiles exploded behind them. Stone and debris flew everywhere as the Autobots took cover from the aerial assault.

"We need to get out of here before he brings the whole castle down on us!" Bumblebee said.

"But what about Jolt and Liftor?" Wheeljack said. "We can't leave them!"

The scout cursed as another missile hit the spot they were hiding behind. "We won't be any help to them if we get blown to bits!"

He pulled Wheeljack out of the wall and they both ran out into the open. They transformed into their car modes and raced out of the courtyard through the castle gates, with Blackout trying to gun them down with his automated cannons.

They had just barely made it out of the castle before they spotted another unwelcome sight. Nightshade.

'Where did they come from? There was no way they could've known about the panel unless they detected it!' Bumblebee thought. 'Did they follow us?'

He transformed, popping his blaster from his hood and took aim at Nightshade. Once his optical sensors were lined up with the beast former, he fired a couple of shots.

Nightshade easily dodged the bolts shooting at her, but when one blast shot dangerously close to her wing, she growled. Multiple panels opened all over her wings under her feathers and fired a rain of small but lethal missile darts at the scout.

"Scrap, move!" Bumblebee jumped down a hill and covered his head from the flames as the missile darts uprooted the ground behind him.

Wheeljack switched to robot mode and lashed his energo-whip at Nightshade. Te whip grazed her wing as she passed over them, leaving behind a deep cut of burnt armor that hurt a lot. She gave a war cry and descended upon the engineer. When he lashed his whip out again, she transformed and weaved her body around the whip so that it barely touched her.

Nightshade kicked him in the chest, and knocked him to the ground. She took out her blades and prepared to stab him in the spark. But she was forced to deflect a few bolts from Bumblebee, who was shooting at her.

"How did you find us?" Wheeljack asked. Nightshade snorted.

"Like I'm going to tell you Autobot! Blackout, torch them!"

"With pleasure."

Blackout flew towards the Autobots and began his aerial bombardment, setting Wheeljack and Bumblebee on the run. He forced them back until they were nearly tipping over the edge of the cliff. Bumblebee grunted as he tried to keep himself from falling into the water a few feet below them and nodded at Wheeljack.

The two Autobots began returning fire at the Con, shooting his missiles out of the sky before they could hit them. The air was ablaze with explosions and clouds of fire that briefly turned the grey skies dark and filled the quiet plains with thunderous booms.

When they rain of missiles stopped, Bumblebee and Wheeljack stopped shooting, thinking at Blackout had ran out of ammo. But that wasn't the case, as Nightshade came flying out of the smoke and flames like a black bullet, shooting missile darts at them.

The missiles exploded at the Autobots' feet, causing the cliff under them to crumble away and they fell over the edge into the water below.

Nightshade transformed and looked over the side just in time to see a large splash hit the water. Blackout, still in helicopter mode, hovered behind her.

"That takes care of them." She said.

"What about the Minicons in the castle?" Blackout asked.

"Leave them, they'll go offline soon enough. Right now, our top priority is the panel. Come, we must go at once."

She went into beast mode and flew away from the cliff with Blackout in tow, leaving behind the two submerged bodies of the Autobots.

XXXXXXX

When Liftor woke up the first thing he noticed was that his head was pounding. He moved slowly to lift himself up, his whole body aching from getting his by the shockwave from the explosions blast radius. Pushing the large rocks off him, he saw that he was on the courtyard of the castle, which looked like it was hit by an air strike.

"Bee? Wheljack?" He called out. "Where are they?"

A soft groan from beside him caught his attention. He brushed away some of the rubble and found Jolt lying on the ground not looking very good.

"Jolt, are you alright?"

"Ugh," Jolt groaned. "Don't speak so loud. My head hurts."

"And so does everything else." Liftor said. Jolt's body looked severely damaged, having taken the brunt of the explosion from the missile. Had he been a few seconds slower, he would've been blown to pieces by the warhead. "Can you walk?"

"I think, with some help."

Liftor helped Jolt to his feet and they trudged their way through the courtyard out of the castle. When they finally limped out of the castle's shadow they saw the Autobots laying on the ground near the cliff, soaking wet and a bit damaged but still in one piece.

"What happened to you guys?" Jolt asked.

"We fell over the cliff, but Wheeljack managed to snag us on the rocks before we could take a swim." Bumblebee said.

"Didn't stop the damn tide from nearly washing us off." Wheeljack grumbled.

"Where are the Cons? Please tell me you chased them off." Liftor pleaded. He groaned when they shook their heads.

"They got a head start on us." The scout said. "Nightshade probably thought that the mission was worth more than making sure that she snuffed us out. Big mistakes."

"But I wonder how they knew we were here in the first place. It couldn't have been a coincidence." Wheeljack pondered. Bumblebee shook his head.

"We can think about that later. Right now we have a panel to find." He transformed and opened his door. "Hop in, Jolt. I'll give you a ride."

"Nah ah, I'm not that wounded." Jolt jumped up and transformed into helicopter mode. He flew with ease up into the air, but wobbled a bit all the same. "See? All better."

"Alright then, Autobots let's roll out!"

Liftor watched the Autobots drive off and shook his head. "I can tell that he's been waiting to say that for a long time."

XXXXXXX

Nightshade and Blackout landed miles away from where they fought the Autobots at a large mound near a forest. The mound was like a large hill, except there was a large wooden door that was almost as all as her.

"Stay here and keep an eye out. If you see anything that isn't an animal, kill it." She ordered. Blackout nodded.

Nightshade pushed open the door with a hard shove that nearly tore the door off its hinges. She was met with the smell of musty air and dust, making her face scrunch up before she took on her beast mode.

Now in a smaller form, she was able to enter the door way without much of a problem, and soon disappeared down the stone steps of the tomb.

The stairs spiraled down into the earth, and it became so dark that Nightshade had to use night vision sensors for her optics in order to see through the darkness. When she made it down the stairs, she found herself at the end of a long tunnel that looked much taller than is should be for the tomb of a human.

She slowly transformed, crouching a bit to avoid bumping her head on the earthen ceiling. She moved through the tunnel, wary as she always was, since her encounter with the Muses on Lemnos. It wasn't a long walk, and she was at the next wooden door within a minute or so, where she kicked the door open.

Nightshade had to whistle when she saw the door leading to a large cavern that was obviously inhabited by humans in the past. The walls were lined with old Celtic glyphs and spiraling markings of unknown meaning and design. Large energon crystals sprouted from the ground and reached as high as the cavern ceiling. Looking forward she saw that at the center of the cave was an extravagant makeshift mausoleum with a coffin within.

"Someone must feel important." Nightshade commented. She wondered if the man deserved such a lavish grave.

Walking towards it, she noticed that there were two statues standing on both sides of the entrance; Golems in fact, built in the shape of a man and a woman. The male Golem had gold armor and a round disk-like head shaped like the sun. In its right hand was a long staff with a crystalline spear tip that looked to be made entirely of hephaestium. The female was made of silver, with a more slender build and had a round face that resembled the moon, with a large shield depicting a stylized image of the moon on the front.

These Golems, forged by ancient Celtic alchemists centuries ago, were placed here to guard the body of the fall warrior, Cu Chulainn. Fashioned in the image of the all seeing sun and moon, they were Solar and Lunar.

Nightshade looked up at the calm, serene faces of the Golems as she got closer to the tomb. The face plates looked warm and inviting, yet at the same time they conveyed a sense of detachment that just made her uneasy.

She was cautious when getting closer to the dormant Golems. Yes they may have been inactive, but after hearing from Knockout about his encounter with the Hoplites, she was not taking any chances.

"Songbird, deploy."

The targetmaster flew off Nightshade's shoulder and landed on the ground, looking around nervously before hopping forward. Songbird approached the tomb and, looking up at the two statues, cautiously placed one claw in the structure. After a few seconds of no activity or movement, she breathed a sigh of relief and continued forward.

Only to have two staves slam into the ground before her nearly taking off her leg. Songbird jumped back and flew back to Nightshade.

"Of course." Nightshade growled.

Solar and Lunar began to move, their stoic faces looking at the Cons and her targetmaster before walking forward. Nightshade readied her blades and prepared to fight.

"Come on! I've had just about enough of this planet's slag!" She growled.

Taking the challenge, Solar raised it staff and pointed it at her. Nightshade thought it was going to throw it at her, but she was surprised when a beam of light fired from the jewel on the top. She had no time to react as the beam flashed over to her in the blink of an eye and blew a hole into her lower torso.

XXXXXXX

Blackout stood at the entrance to the tomb without so much as moving a gyro. Much like a sentinel, he stood still but ready to fight if need be. The other Cons joked that he was a shadow given form, hence why he's always silent but looming over your shoulder at random times, but they were right in a sense. Blackout worked best when he hid out of sight and sound, similar to Soundwave in that regard but more combat oriented.

His deep red eyes scanned the quiet forest around him, and his audio receptors were attuned to any minute noises that weren't the surrounding wildlife. Any attack would come from either the front or the sides, with the rear too big to approach quietly. The only entrance was behind him, and he was blocking it.

Then a loud noise drew his attention and three blue energy balls shot at him from the trees. Blackout, in a feat of agility alien to his size, rolled t the side and fired his arm cannon in the direction of the attack. The high velocity bullets tore through the thick trees like they were paper and sent them falling to the ground in a loud crash.

Blackout kept his weapons ready. This was normally when he would transform and blow the place to hell from the skies, but he had no room to fly this deep in the forest.

Another blast hit him in the back and he spun around to shoot, but then another bolt tore into his shoulder in another direction. This alternating assault continued for another few minutes before Blackout finally had enough and riddled the trees in front of him with a rain of bullets.

He didn't stop until he was done, and by then, much of the surrounding trees in front of him were nothing more than splinters and torn leaves. He waited for another attack, but none came. Still, he knew they were out there.

"What's the matter Autobots? Too afraid to face a real warrior out in the open?" Blackout asked mockingly.

His answer came in the form of Wheeljack jumping down on him from above and jamming a batch of gryo inhibitors into his neck. Blackout groaned as his circuits were overloaded and fell to his knees. The last thing he saw was Wheeljack landing in front of him before a punch to his head knocked him out.

"There, that wasn't too hard." Wheeljack said calmly. Bumblebee, powerlinked with Jolt, exited the ruined forest with Liftor.

"We better move fast, Blackout won't be out for long." He said.

"You go on ahead, I can watch over the big guy." The engineer said. Bumblebee nodded.

"Okay. You watch your back." The scout ran through the doors and edged down the stairs.

"I should be telling you that!"Wheeljack yelled after him.

XXXXXXX

Nightshade clutched the smoking hole in her side as she fired her railgun. Solar easily side stepped the attack and fired another beam, which she barely dodged. Lunar came at her like a lightning bolt, swinging its staff around its body with ungodly skill as it tried to gore her with the razor sharp half-moon on its weapon.

She ducked under a slash from Lunar and fought back with a swipe of her blade. Lunar was almost cut by the razor thin sword, but jumped back so that only a tiny chip was sliced off. The tip of Solar's staff glowed again, and this time Nightshade knew to avoid the beam completely.

Nightshade got into a low crouch as the beam shot over her wings, but she winced at the pain in her side. The wound burned like she was hit by a heat rod, and was still smoking. It didn't hit anything vital, but she had to careful not to get shot anymore.

This was the sight that Bumblebee came upon when he entered the cavern. Nightshade dueling with two Golems and was given a run for her money as well.

This was the sight that Bumblebee happened upon when he entered the cave. Nightshade fighting two Golems and was given a run for her money. He looked at the tomb and saw the coffin of the Celtic hero inside, and on top of the coffin's lid was the inactive panel.

"It's never easy for me, is it?" He asked himself.

Careful to stay out of sight, Bumblebee ran into the cave. He used the large energon crystals for cover, and would stop every few seconds to see if they had noticed him yet. He edged closer to the tomb and had made it about as far as the crystal pillars before he felt a stinging pain in his shoulder.

Bumblebee turned to see Lunar looking down at him, raising its moon scythe for another attack. He fired his agitator and managed to catch Lunar in the arm, blowing off the limb at the elbow.

Unfortunately it wasn't the arm holding the weapon. Lunar lashed out with a quick strike the literally cut through the air and landed a deep gash on the scout's chest. He jumped back, tripping over a rock and falling into the tomb. His elbow lightly nudged the coffin and sent the panel falling to the ground just out of his reach.

Nightshade saw it as she grappled with Solar's staff. She punched it in the face and made a break for the panel. Bumblebee, who was trying to keep Lunar from lobbing his head off, saw her and struggled to aim his blaster arm. He also caught sight of Solar aiming its staff in her direction.

It was a split second decision. Shoot Nightshade and get the panel, or shoot the Golem and risk Nightshade getting to the panel first? It only took him a brief mili-second to make his choice.

Taking aim with his optical sensors, Bumblebee fired his solar agitator. The blast shot over Nightshade and hit Solar in the chest just as it shot a beam from its staff. The laser hit Nightshade in the wing, knocking her to the ground and burning a hole through her appendage.

Bumblebee kicked Lunar off him and jumped to his feet. Lunar got another hit off him, slicing its moon scythe into his shoulder, but bringing it close enough to the scout to take it out. Two shots to the chest had nearly destroyed its torso and finally deactivated it. He looked over at Solar and saw that it was still operational, but not enough to get itself to move properly.

A plasma beam from Nightshade had completely vaporized its head and shut it down as well. Tired and hurt, Nightshade fell onto her back and groaned.

"I'm getting sick of these things." Nightshade said.

Bumblebee ran over to the panel and snatched it up before pointing his cannon at Nightshade, who was staring at him without fear.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" She asked. "If you think that I'm going to thank you for saving my life, then you might as well shoot me now."

Bumblebee considered shooting her, if nothing else than to deprive the Decepticons of a valuable asset. But he was not ruthless and uncaring as her-nor was he stupid.

"Nice try, but I see you aiming you railgun at me." He said. "The minute I fire, you'll blast a hole through my spark before I can even blink."

Nightshade smirked. "Very good, you're smarter than you think."

"You don't work with Prime for as long as I have without learning a few things." The scout grunted.

"Amen to that."

They kept their weapons trained on each other for a few minutes before dropping their arms with tired groans. They were both wounded and tired from nearly getting vaporized and decapitated by two ancient automatons, fighting now would achieve nothing.

"Get the hell out of here." She sighed. "You won, I lost. Scram before I change my mind."

Bumblebee did so, he ran to the entrance of the tomb, but not before giving her one last look before running into the tunnel.

Songbird separated from Nightshade and looked at her mistress, who looked ragged and exhausted.

"Mistress, why did you let the Autobot leave? We could've taken the panel." She inquired. She wasn't angry with Nightshade, no she could never be cross with her. But she was curious. The Con would have killed someone as insignificant as the scout in a heartbeat.

"Songbird, I'm ten seconds away from going into stasis lock. It was either put you into a coma to get back at a Autobot scout, or play it safe and made sure that you didn't get roped into my stupidity. I chose the latter." Nightshade explained in the most blasé way possible.

Songbird looked at her in silence, big eyes wide as she processed her kindness. "Mistress…"

Nightshade laid back down on the ground and sighed. "Now shut up and let you mistress recharge. I could use some peace and quiet on this god forsaken rock."


	16. Dissection

Chapter 16-Dissection

"And here we have the storage area," Annie said. "Here the Autobots stash their energon and other important things here. It's also where Wheeljack works his mojo with synthetic energon if they need it."

"Outstanding." Comettor breathed. "I used to be an astrologer back on Cybertron's moons and I have seen a lot of Autobot ships in my day. But this is something else."

"Glad you like it, because this is going to be your home now for the time being. And we've got plenty of room so there's no need to hold back on being picky." Gina grinned. She loved playing tour guide for new faces.

Gina and Darren were taking the time to give the two new Minicons that they got on the last two missions a tour of the Ark. After Sparkplug had explained the situation to them, though Gina was offering a chance to make an orientation video for the new Minicons because explaining tings to them over and over was getting a bit tedious, the kids were tasked with helping the new recruits get acclimated to Terra, being Terrans themselves.

Gina was helping take care of Comettor, a dark blue Minicon with one red arm and a large blue claw that was his radio dish in his alt mode a moon buggy, who she had rescued from the Argo a few days ago. Darren was watching over the Minicon from the panel that Bumblebee and Wheeljack had retrieved from Airlann.

"No don't touch that!" A loud clang followed Darren's yells.

"Oooh, what's this? Is it a toy, nya?"

"No! It is not a toy, put that down!"

An explosion filled the hall. "Darren, what the hell?"

"Sorry Rollbar!"

Darren's charge was the hyperactive femme, Peppercat. She was a bright red Minicon with plugs for fingers and on her feet, as well as a plug on the tip of her tail. She had bright blue eyes, a grey faceplate and short cat ears to finish off the little cat motif she had going on which was fitting seeing as she transformed into a cat. As one can see, he was having a hard time keeping her attention.

"Are they going to be alright?" Comettor asked. Gina nodded.

"Yeah, they'll be fine, granted they may get an earful from Rollbar and Liftor though. That sounded expensive." She motioned to the door on their right. "Anyway let me show you where the Command Center is-"

"That won't be necessary."

They looked up to see Prowl standing behind them. He had Darren and Peppercat in his hand. Ignoring Peppercat trying to zap his fingers with her plug fingers, Prowl dropped them next to Gina and Comettor.

"What's the big deal Prowl? We're in the middle of giving this guys a tour of the Ark."

"Well consider the tour over. Take these Minicons back to their quarters and don't let them out unless they have an Autobot escorting them." Prowl said.

"What the hell is this, a lockdown?" Darren asked.

"If you want to call it that, then yes."

"Since when?" Gina frowned.

"Since just now. Believe me, I'm doing you both a favor." He said.

"I thought you said the Autobots were different? This guy doesn't look very friendly, nya." Peppercat growled. Comettor nodded his agreement at the accusation.

"Wait, they are. Prowl's just having a malfunction." Darren said. He glared up at Prowl. "Would you stop, we're trying to help these people!"

"And I'm trying to maintain the security protocols on this ship. Now either you two take them back to their quarters or I'll do it myself." Prowl said firmly.

Darren flexed his powers, pulling loose a few metal panels from the floor. "Go ahead and try, these aren't prisoners, they're victims!"

Gina bit her lip and took a step back. Just when things were about to get heated, Optimus appeared in the hall.

"What is going on here?"

"Oh Optimus thank Gaia you're here," Gina breathed. "Prowl just showed up out of nowhere trying to lock these Minicons up. You have to knock some sense into him."

"Or I will." Darren said defensively.

Optimus looked at Prowl, who didn't even try to deny the accusations. Looking down at the kids he said, "Darren, Gina, could you please take our guests to the rec room for a moment. I will be with you shortly."

"Will do, Prime." Darren nodded and motioned for the pair to follow him. Comettor and Peppercat gave the Autobots wary glances before following after the children.

Once they were gone, Optimus faced Prowl. "Prowl, what are you doing? Antagonizing the Minicons will only gain animosity from them."

"I was simply making sure that they weren't getting into places where they had no business being." Prowl said.

"On what grounds? What have they done to warrant such treatment?" Optimus asked.

Prowl decided to play his hand. "I wasn't going to say anything until I had enough evidence, but since you're so eager, I'll spoil the surprise. I think we have a spy in the Ark."

"A spy?"

"Yes, one of the Minicons. Haven't you noticed that the Cons seem to know more than they should about our missions? Starscream and later Lugnut's teams appearing in the Agean Islands despite the panel not even activating until we reached Colchis. A kill team ambushing Bumblebee and Wheeljack in Airlann." Prowl explained. "Don't you think it's strange that the Cons were there before we're even there in the first place?"

"You think that one of the Minicons we took in might be feeding them information." Optimus said. Prowl nodded.

"Yes. I'm sorry for causing a scene but I couldn't let the kids show potential moles our technology. If we're so much as crippled by a secret agent, then we might as well roll over and let Megatron trample us under his treads."

Optimus sighed. He knew Prowl was not too far off the mark in his assumptions. He, to, had suspicions as to how the Decepticons were getting the drop on them nearly every time they went out to get a Minicon. But Prowl's straight forward method of locking them up was only going to complicate matters.

"Prowl, I understand your concerns, but treating the Minicons like they're criminals will only turn them against us. They're already distrustful of us because of the way they were treated in the past, let's not give them a reason to hate us." He said. "Until we are positive of the identity of the spy, we will not make any moves that will alert them that we're on to them, nor will we take away their rights. Are we clear?"

"Yes Prime." Prowl said briskly. Optimus nodded and walked towards the rec room to speak with the new Minicons.

Perhaps Prowl was acting a bit aggressive, but it was for the good of the team and their mission. Unlike the others, he had not forgotten that their job was to defeat the Decepticons before they could gain a foothold on this planet they had all grown so attached to. And they can't do that if the very people they're trying t o help is undermining their efforts from the inside.

Prowl won't bother the Minicons again, but he will be keeping a close eye on them. After learning that Sparkplug had a hand in developing Minicon combiner technology, it was clear that they were still keeping secrets, and that made Prowl uneasy. As an Autobot, Prowl knew that his duty lied first and foremost with winning this war on battle at a time.

The Minicons were a rogue element that must be watched and taken care of accordingly. Whether Optimus knew of it or not.

XXXXXXX

The city of Brigid was once a sprawling metropolis near the borders of the capital city of the Arcadian empire, Archades. Like the rest of the nation, it was plentiful and great since the time of its conception, thanks to the many innovations Arcadia made in hephaestium technology and science. But of course, it all fell apart when a nearby volcano, Mt. Dagda, erupted in a violent explosion that forced the entire city to evacuate, raining hot cinders on the city that either blinded or killed people through suffocation. That was only ten years ago. The city hadn't seen any sign of life since then. Until now, that is.

In the middle of an apartment complex, two giants were doing battle. One was the green Autobot Bulkhead, and the other was the Decepticon loyalist Lugnut. Both enemies were searching for the source of a mysterious energon signal that was had popped up in the heart of the city. They ran into each other by chance and things escalated from there.

Both brutes were fighting fiercely, Bulkhead's wrecking ball against Lugnut's mace, which the Con wielded with an amazing bout of skill. He sent Bulkhead crashing into the side of a building.

"I will enjoy tearing off your head and offering it to lord Megatron as a trophy." Lugnut growled, his red eye gleaming.

"Don't you ever shut up?" Bulkhead said. Lugnut chuckled.

"No more than your pet human that you drag around so much. Maybe I will let you go and her down to offer to my master."

Bulkhead yelled and charge at Lugnut. He shot his wrecking ball at the Con, but Lugnut spun around the ball and hit Bulkhead square in the jaw with his mace, knocking the Autobot off his feet. Bulkhead crashed to the ground in a daze, with Lugnut looming over him.

"Or perhaps I will stick with your head. Lord Megatron is not too picky these days."

Lugnut raised his mace to smashed Bulkhead's skull in, but a round device attached to his chest and delivered a strong jolt that knocked out his systems. He went falling to the ground just opposite of Bulkhead.

Three helicopters flew over the downed bots and landed not too far from them. Soldiers in black body armor and surrounded the bots with their weapons trained on them. Those scramblers were designed to take out Talos with an EMP jolt, and modified to disable cybertronians, but one could never be too careful.

When the last chopper landed, Aries, general of OZ , stepped out and set his three eyes on the two mechs. Those new toys Pisces gave to him worked wonders. He would have to thank the old bastard when this was over.

"That went well." Aries commented. One of the soldiers approached him.

"Sir, we only have enough resources to transport one of them." He said. Aries didn't take long to make his decision.

"Take the victor."

XXXXXXX

Bulkhead sat in the med bay with Ratchet working on his shoulder with a welding tool to close his small wounds. Optimus, Arcee, Bumblebee and Annie were all with him.

"Engaging the enemy on your own was foolish, Bulkhead." Optimus said. "You know the rules of combat on this ship."

"It's not my fault, Lugnut started it. He blindsided me." Bulkhead said. Ratchet whacked him on the head with a wrench to get him to stay still.

"Well, I certainly don't feel sorry for the other guy, right Bulk?" Annie smiled. Bulkhead looked down at his hands sheepishly, making her frown. "Wait, you meam you didn't torch him."

"No, I thought one of you did." He said. Seeing that the other Bots had no knowledge of this, he continued. "Well, I remember hearing a chopper, I thought it might be Jolt and Bee that saved me."

"Sorry, Bulk, we were nowhere near you position." Bumblebee said. Then Prowl appeared in the doorway, his face grim.

"I think I have an idea."

XXXXXXX

Nightshade and Starscream entered the bridge where Megatron was occupying with Soundwave at the communications station. Both Cons, while not very fond of each other, were oddly serious as they approached their leader with a pressing matter.

"Megatron, we have a problem." Nightshade said. "Lugnut is missing. We lost track of his signal in Arcadia."

"Autobots?" Megatron asked. Starscream shook his head.

"According to the eye witness accounts of Lugnut's partner Search, Lugnut was captured by humans." He said.

"If this is true then we need to take immediate action." She told him. Megatron didn't look very concerned by this news.

"Your point?"

"I suggest that we gather a rescue team to liberate our fellow comrade from those vile humans." Starscream said. "Nightshade and I can lead an air strike on the last location where Lugnut was seen and scout the area top to bottom."

It was a good plan, but not one that Megatron entertained.

"Lugnut is on his own." Megatron said coldly. Nightshade and Starscream were both shocked at this statement. "If Lugnut was bested by those weaker than him, smaller than him, then he deserves whatever fate awaits him."

Nightshade wasn't having it. "But Megatron, Lugnut is a key member of our team! We don't have the luxury of tossing away our soldiers like cannon fodder when we're stuck on this planet…"

Seeing that Megatron was getting impatient, Starscream took Nightshade by the arm and led her off the bridge. "Your wisdom reigns supreme, lord Megatron."

They exited the bridge and Nightshade threw his arms off her and marched angrily down the hall. Pride or not, Nightshade wasn't going to let this travesty go unpunished.

XXXXXXX

Lugnut came back online with a groan, and the first thing he noticed was that he was inside some dark tunnel illuminated by dim lights. He tried to move but found his arms and legs retrained with metal bolts on some metal slab. Lugnut tried not to look at the large drills and saws that loomed over his body as he struggled to free himself.

"What is this? Release me right now!" He shouted.

A door opened and three humans walked onto the cat walk at the foot of the metal slab he was retrained to. The tallest man, the one of the third eye, stood before the large computer, with his armed guards behind him.

"Awake I see. It's about time, this wouldn't have been nearly as much fun if you were sleeping."

"Filthy fleshlings! Who the hell do you think you are to attack a warrior of lord Megatron?" Lugnut yelled.

"We are OZ, and I am Aries." Aries answered firmly. "And you, my dear Decepticon, are here as our honored guest."

Lugnut was already fuming because he was captured by these worthless humans and the more this freak spoke down to him like he was superior, the angrier he got. He would've liked to see how brave these humans would be if he had all his weapons systems online!

"Fool! Lord Megatron will never pay a ransom!" Lugnut said. His comment made Aries laugh.

"Oh we don't want a ransom, we want you." Aries leaned in. "All of you."

Lugnut's eye went wide at the implication. These humans were going to tear him apart!

XXXXXXX

"I've had Teletran-1 scout the country for any unusual human activity that fits the motif of OZ." Prowl said. "And lately I've been having it monitor for any OZ activity out of the country as well, though it's been a bit difficult."

Optimus, Bulkhead, Arcee, Bumblebee and Annie were in the Command Room with Prowl and Ratchet. They were looking at a holo-map of Europa, with the location where Bulkhead last was being highlighted.

"You've been hunting for OZ, without telling us?" Ratchet asked.

"After getting ambushed by them the last time, I wasn't going to take any chances with them." Prowl said. He didn't appear at all concerned at the growing animosity he was getting from his comrades. As far as he was concerned he was doing his job. "So I took the liberty of looking into them just in case they pop up again and interfere with our work."

"Even still, you should've told us what you were doing Prowl." Optimus said.

"I know, I was just taking the initiative." He said. "Now, the place where Bulkhead was investigating that energon signal is located in Arcadia, where Lugnut just happened to be as well. It would be logical to assume that OZ had been operating there because of you two being in the area."

"They must have tracked one of us there." Bulkhead said.

"And that stray energon signal was probably their work to." Ratchet noted. It was a troubling thought.

"But what would they want with Lugnut?" Bumblebee asked.

"Who cares, they can keep him." Arcee snorted. Bulkhead laughed.

"Ha! Big bad Lugnut getting carried off by humans." Bulkhead laughed. He turned to Annie. "Guess I softened him up for them, eh?"

Annie didn't look as enthusiastic about it as Bulkhead hoped. She was still a bit disappointed that her big green friend didn't win against a Con who was much dumber than him.

Optimus looked at the map with narrowed eyes and turned to his team. "Ratchet, open the ground bridge at the previous coordinates. We're rescuing Lugnut."

"SAY WHAT?!" Everyone exclaimed.

"Optimus you can't be serious." Arcee protested.

"Yeah, those goons can melt him down for I care. Why should we rescue one of Megatron's lackies?" Bulkhead growled.

"Especially, Lugnut." Bumblebee pointed out. No one could stand that brute's grandstanding, not even the Cons themselves.

"Sometimes, we must rise above ourselves for the greater good." Optimus said wisely. Bulkhead made an aggravated noise.

"What the hell does that mean? You think Lugnut's gonna go soft on us and join the cause because we saved his ass?" He said.

"By greater good, I mean humankind." Optimus said, not perturbed by Bulkhead's attitude. "OZ presents a clear and present danger to both humans and cybertronians, no matter the faction."

"Prime's right. OZ is obsessed with making some new world order through advanced technology." Prowl said. Optimus nodded.

"Which means that we cannot let them have cybertronian biology to their arsenal. I can only hope that we make their in time."

XXXXXXXX

Aries walked down the small staircase so that he was at ground level with Lugnut's head.

"Full disclosure, we're going to rip you apart, break you down if you will. And we will use whatever we learn to create a new generation of weaponry." He explained. "Sadly, you will not survive the procedure. But we will remember your contribution and bury what's left of you with the highest honor."

Lugnut struggled violently, trying to tear the man's head off. He was a proud warrior of the Decepticons! He showed no weakness in the eyes of his enemies, much less these filthy organic heathens!

"When I get out of here, I will make sure that your slaves will scrape you off the floor!" Lugnut snarled.

Aries wasn't fazed by the threat, if anything he welcomed the hostility. It made breaking him all the more enjoyable. "Since you evidently aren't squeamish, I will allow you to watch. Are his pain receptors disabled?"

"No sir." One of the scientists answered. Aries grinned and leaned in close so that he was staring right into Lugnut's crimson eye.

"Good, I want to hear him scream." He said. "Open him up."

He stepped back as the drills over Lungnut's body were switched on and began to descend upon him. Finally losing some of his earlier bravado, Lugnut struggled to break free in vain. The noise of the drill as it neared his head grew louder the closer it got.

Soon it was so loud that he could not hear anything else. Not even his own scream as the drill gored into his head.

XXXXXXX

"Come on, Bulk, you can't just duck out of this!" Annie whined.

She was with the Autobots in the shuttle bay preparing to embark on their rescue mission to Brigid. Optimus was going ahead with a team consisting of Arcee, Bumblebee, and Ratchet. Bulkhead was hanging back, not thrilled at all about rescuing Lugnut.

"I'm not going." Bulkhead said stubbornly. When Optimus walked up to them, Bulkhead defended himself. "I'm sorry Optimus, but I just can't do it. He's not worth the trouble."

"I respect you decision, Bulkhead." Prime said, throwing Bulkhead and Annie for a loop.

"Say what?" Annie questioned.

"Given your past with Lugnut, your judgment will be clouded by your emotions." Prime explained. "And Lugnut may be in need of medic, instead of a warrior."

Bulkhead watched wordlessly as his friends entered the ground bridge and vanished. He sighed and looked down at Annie, who did not look happy at all.

"So…creature double feature?" He asked. "Your favorite is coming on."

"Yeah, sure…whatever." She said and walked away.

Bulkhead watched her go and groaned. No matter what he did, he just couldn't win.

XXXXXXX

The ground bridge appeared in the same place where Bulkhead and Lugnut last met in the heart of the apartment complex in Brigid. Optimus exited the portal first, followed by Arcee and Bumblebee, then Ratchet. They quickly scanned the area with their weapons ready.

"Clear." Arcee said. At least it wasn't a repeat of what happened last time.

Bumblebee looked down and saw a pair of tire tracks that led away from the complex. "Hey, I found tracks!"

Ratchet shook his head. "Forget the tracks, Bumblebee. I'm picking up a signal, north by northwest."

The others looked perplexed. They shouldn't be able to detect Lugnut since he was a Decepticon. Arcee pointed that out. "But we shouldn't be able to get his signal. Unless…"

She trailed off and Ratchet nodded. "Unless his energon's been spilled."

XXXXXXX

Grindor was asleep on the table as the old Hinomoto movie Dinolizard vs Godira blared on the screen in the rec room. Behind him, Bulkhead and Annie sat in an uncomfortable silence. Seeking to get into her good graces again, the green Autobot tried to break the tension.

"So, what's wrong? You're missing the smackdown!" He grinned. "Giant lizard vs flying dragon, your favorite!"

"No you're missing the smackown!" Annie yelled at him. She stood up and glared up at Bulkhead. "Lugnut is you archenemy, not Optimus's and certainly not OZ's."

Bulkhead sighed and shook his head. "Annie, you don't understand, Lugnut and I, we go way back. He was born in Nova Cronum along with Wheeljack and I, and he helped in destroying the city. You don't know the things he did for Megatron. I'm sorry but I'm not saving him."

Annie made a noise of annoyance. "Bulk, you're fighting in a war, could you at least try to act like a warrior?"

"Huh?" Bulkhead looked at her puzzled. She decided to spell it out for him.

"I'm not asking you to bromance him, Bulk. I'm asking you to beat him!" She said. "Chances are that he's at the mercy of those Cobra rejects and can't defend himself. Which means that you can walk right up to him and smash his skull in, then be on your merry way."

Bulkhead gulped when he saw Annie's green eyes flash in the darkness of the room. He was sure that if she had Mjolnir on her, she would've done the deed herself.

"No rematch, no mercy, no prisoners. Only trophies." Annie finished. "Are you ready to prove who's the better bot?"

Bulkhead looked at her, weighing the options in his mind. He would be going against Prime's orders, but it would prove to be useful in the long run by depriving Megatron of his strongest warrior. Sooner or later someone's going to get slagged, better it be Lugnut than him or any of his friends.

"Alright I'll do it."

Annie smirked. "Well, let's get you into the ring, shall we?"

XXXXXXX

Ratchet led the team through the apartment complex towards where the signal was coming from. They entered the front yard of a large church with Bumblebee and Arcee taking point. When they saw it was clear they motioned for Optimus and Ratchet to come forward.

"The signal's close by," He said. "And it's coming from there."

He pointed to the statue of an angel in front of the church. The team walked into the yard and towards the statue, still alert for any surprises. But the surprise they got was a lot more ghoulish than they thought.

Lying at the foot of the statue was a silver marble like device with a red iris and had a couple of severed cords attached to it. The Autobots knew what this was at first glance and they did not like the implications it meant for the Con they intended to rescue.

"It's Lugnut's eye." Ratchet gasped.

Back at the complex, Bulkhead jumped out of the first ground bridge he took without Ironhide or Wheeljack noticing. Once the bridge was gone, he looked around for any sign of Optimus and the others before head heard the sound of a car close to him.

Bulkhead quickly took cover behind a building as a jeep drove through the yard and towards the outskirts of the complex. Bulkhead narrowed his eyes.

"Found you." He growled.

At the church, Ratchet gingerly took the optic in his hand and attached the nerve circuits to his scanner and began typing in some commands.

"What are you doing?" Arcee asked.

"I'm plugging into the optical sensors. We should be able to get an image of the last thing Lugnut saw." He answered. After a few seconds, the optic glowed and a video image appeared on the scanner.

"Wow, that's…that's weird, doc." Bumblebee said. The things you could do with weird science.

The video only lasted a couple of seconds, and all they saw was a drill coming towards the screen before sparks started flying and the feed cut out. The Autobots gasped.

"Primus, he was still awake when they tore his eye out?" Arcee scowled. How sick were these people?

Suddenly the screen went blank before cutting to another image. This one was in real time, showing Aries and had a screaming Lugnut in the background.

"Optimus Prime, how good it is to set eyes on you again." Aries smiled. Optimus narrowed his eyes.

"He's converted the optic into a two way feed." Ratchet said.

"It's nice to finally see you and your friends again. As you can see Lugnut can't speak to you at the moment, he's a bit preoccupied." Aries said, looking back at Lugnut. "But he's revealing quite a bit about your biomechanics. Fascinating creatures, you are."

"You sick, twisted bastard!" Arcee hissed.

"Now, that's no way for a lady to speak. Though I am glad to see to see you all here, I was expecting someone else to come for the Con. Namely Megatron."

"In this situation, Autobots and Decepticons are united against a common foe." Optimus said.

"OZ is anything but common!" Aries growled. "As Lugnut is finding out himself. Speaking of which, I left you a little present I want you to have. Think of it as a thank you for all the trouble you gave me in our last encounter."

Optimus took a minute to process that before he finally realized there was a faint beeping sound coming from under the statue. Looking down through a small grate, he saw that the entire basement of the church was lined with bombs with the timer nearing 00.

"Autobots, evacuate!"

They transformed and drove away from the church as fast as they could just as the timer hit zero. The entire church exploded in a tower of flames that was so strong it knocked them off their wheels. They quickly righted themselves and transformed back to robot mode and looked at the burning church.

"So…where do we find the rest of Lugnut?" Arcee asked.

XXXXXXX

Lugnut's body was numb with pain. Having lost his eye, he could not see what was going on, but he could feel the saws, drills and surgical lasers cutting pieces of his armor off, revealing his inner circuitry. The humans were very thorough in their dissection of him, and though they hadn't pierced anything vital, it was only a matter of time.

"Lugnut, can you hear me?"

Lugnut growled weakly. Aries chuckled.

"Good to know you're as hardy as you say you are." He said. "Though I can't say the same for your would be rescuers."

"D-Decepticons don't break that easy!" Lugnut snarled.

"You misunderstand. Your rescuers aren't Decepticons, they're Autobots. Led by Prime himself."

Lugnut was puzzled. "No Autobot would risk their lives for a Decepticon."

Aries shrugged. "It doesn't matter at this point, since they're in more pieces than you right now."

A loud bang echoing throughout the tunnel caused the soldiers to pause in their operation. Aries raised an eyebrow as he heard more of the noises and turned to one of his men, who immediately brought up a camera feed of the entrance.

At the tunnel doors, a platoon of soldiers got into position and raised their weapons, modified rifles armed to fire HV (high velocity bullets) that were capped with casings harboring powdered hephaestium inside. It worked in a process similar to magnesium in armor piercing bullets, in that the powder exploded on contact with a hard surface and caused significant damage. This was based on previous studies of the effects the energizing crystal had on the cybertronian body when used against them.

The hard metal doors designed to take missiles up front was already deforming from the strong blows coming from the other side. When the doors began groaning, then the soldiers knew that it was time to attack.

Even still, they were caught off guard when Bulkhead came smashing through the doors like a battering ram, knocking the doors off their hinges. The soldiers fired their weapons, but Bulkhead took their fire head on slamming his wrecking ball into the ground just close enough to make them wet their pants.

Aries narrowed his eyes at the footage and snapped his fingers, signaling for his men to pack up shop and get ready to move. Looks like he might just get his chance to fight an Autobot after all.

Bulkhead ran through the blockade in his way and down the tunnel. When he made it towards the shelter he saw Lugnut on the slab, looking like he had a swarm of Scraplets munching on him for nearly an hour. Lugnut heard him approaching but showed no fear. He will not die groveling for his life like Starscream!

"Go ahead Autobot! Do your job!" He shouted. "I will die a warrior in the eyes of my master."

Bulkhead raised his ball, fully intending to smash Lugnut's head under it. But he couldn't get himself to do it. Seeing the Con lying there half dead and wounded took the air from his sails. He could kill him now, but it would just feel…wrong.

'What am I doing?' Bulkhead thought.

Against his better wishes, he retracted his wrecking ball and pulled off the restraints around Lugnut's arms and legs, before helping the Con to his feet. The Decepticon looked as confused as Bulkhead was astonished at what he had done.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"Saving your tailpipe." Bulkhead answered. "Any brawling you want to do can be done someplace else. Can you walk?"

"I never run when I can fight!" Lugnut growled. And besides, he still had his proximity sensors to help him navigate around until he got some medical help.

Bulkhead sighed. "As long as you don't shoot you guns at me, I'm game. Let's go before they regroup."

The two large bots ran through the tunnel back to the entrance, where the soldiers once again started firing. Bulkhead kicked up some debris to scatter them before leading Lugnut outside.

They barely stepped a foot out onto the grass before spotlights were shined on them. In an instant, they were assaulted by a hail of bullet fire from turrets mounted on jeeps and attack choppers shooting them from above.

Lugnut didn't waste any time in getting his revenge. He primed the missile pods on his back and released a rain of heat seekers that annihilated much of the ground forces unfortunate enough not to drive away in time. But they were quickly replaced by Talos, both the bipedal Zygart units clothed in pitch black armor and the heavily armored white armored Orion mecha tanks.

Bulkhead ran forward and smashed his wrecking ball into any jeep or Talos that came his way. He felt the bullets bouncing off his armor, but ignored the stinging pain of the hephaestium detonating against his body as he got to work on the Talos.

Lugnut was doing the same, swinging his mace at anyone dumb enough to try to initiate close combat with him. Two Zygart units had their heads destroyed by a single swing of his mace, and another was punched in the chest, caving the cockpit in and crushing the pilot into a bloody mess. A jeep crashed into his foot and he picked it up and threw it at a chopper, destroying both in a large explosion.

Bulkhead was tearing off the arms of an Orion tank when he was hit in the shoulder by a missile. He grunted but stayed upright, glaring at the Talos that shot him.

This Talos was different from the rest. It was blood red and almost as tall as Bulkhead. Its head looked like the helmet of a roman centurion, complete with the vertical fringe that was a lighter shade of red and made of metal. A short cannon was mounted on its shoulder that folded onto its back, and on its waist was a sword resized to suit the needs of this Talos. This was the personal Talos of Aries, Krios.

In the cockpit, Aries stared at the two mechs through his monitor with a mad grin on his face, his third eye flashing wildly.

"I had been waiting a long time to fight one of you myself," His voice said through the speakers. "So I hope that you're worth the trouble."

"You will regret your arrogance human!" Lugnut roared.

He charged at Aries with his mace held high, but before he could bring it down on him, Aries had his Talos draw its blade and attack in an upward slash. Bulkhead watched surprised as the sword actually cut through Lugnut's arm, severing it at the elbow, mace and all. Lugnut staggered back clutching his sparkling stump in pain and shock.

"No, machine. You'll regret your arrogance." Aries said.

He brought out the Krios' auto-cannon and fired an anti-tank round that caught Lugnut in his exposed shoulder, knocking him over. He fired another shot, but Bulkhead rammed into the Talos and knocked him off balance.

"Don't forget about me!"

"How can I?" Aries replied.

At the press of a button, a small blade extended from Krios' arm and Aries jerked his joystick so that his unit's arm would slash upwards. Bulkhead grunted as he felt the blade scratch against his torso plating and stepped back.

"Adamantium, the strongest metal on Terra, capable of cutting through anything." Aries said smugly. "Even cybertronian armor."

Bulkhead glared at the Talos, but felt more bullets hitting him from behind. There were still more Talos surrounding them and the gunships were now shooting missiles at Lugnut, who didn't look so good. Krios ran at Bulkhead and lashed out with its sword with speed no military Talos could match with current technology. Bulkhead jumped back and tried to hit it with his wrecking ball, but Aries maneuvered his machine so that it avoided getting hit and caught the Autobot in the jaw with a punch of his own.

Bulkhead stumbled back into Lugnut, who was trying to stay on his feet but failing. "We're getting overwhelmed, we're not going to make it at this rate."

"Do you have a plan then, Autobot?" Lugnut asked. He grabbed an Orion tank and threw it at a Zygart, sending both crashing to the ground.

"I do, but you're not gonna like it." Bulkhead keyed his communicator. "Bulkhead to Optimus, rendezvous at my coordinates."

Aries watched with glee as the two mechs began to falter under the relentless assault. He lost a lot of units and men, but he now had two specimens for study. It was only a matter of time. He primed the Krios' shoulder cannon and aimed it at Bulkhead's head, intending on blowing the Autobot away and ending this farce of a battle.

Then just as he was about to press the trigger on his joystick, one of the gunships' pilots spoke over the radio. " _General_!"

"What is it!" Aries shouted.

" _We've got two bogeys coming in at high speeds. ETA in two minutes_."

'Reinforcements.' Aries thought. Typical. Just on the cusp of victory, only to have it taken away from him at the last minute.

"All units, disengage and initiate omega protocols." Aries ordered over the tact net. He glared at Bulkhead and Lugnut. "We'll meet again Autobot, make no mistake about that."

Bulkhead and Lugnut, weary and nearly drained, paused in their assault when they saw the Talos and gunships start to retreat from them. The Krios looked emotionlessly at them before it to began running away. The green Autobot let out a relieved sigh and lowered his weapon.

"That was close." He breathed.

But his relief was cut short when he saw a giant raven and helicopter appear above him and transform into robot mode. Bulkhead raised his blaster arm at Nightshade and Blackout.

At the same moment, Optimus and his team arrived and switched from their robot modes, pointing their weapons at the Cons. Blackout did so in response, but Nightshade glared at them all.

"You can relax you damn fools. I'm not here to fight you. I'm here for a certain soldier of mine." She pointed at Lugnut.

Bulkhead glared at her, but moved aside so that Nightshade and Blackout could placed Lugnut's large arms around their shoulders and lift him up. Before they left, Nightshade gave some parting words to Bulkhead.

"I do not know your name, nor do I particularly care, but I thank you for saving one of my own." She said honestly. "But know that the next time you two meet, you will be enemies."

"I'll be waiting for him." Bulkhead promised.

Nightshade actually gave him a tiny smirk before she and Blackout helped take Lugnut into the forest. Once they were gone from sight, Optimus approached Bulkhead.

"Engaging the enemy alone was foolish Bulkhead, and disobeying orders even more so," Optimus scolded, but then his tone softened. "But you have done the right thing. It takes a lot of strength to save your enemy in a moment of weakness."

Bulkhead shrugged shyly, looking at the ground. "Well, it was nothing. Besides, I can always get another rematch some other day."

"Indeed. But until that happens, I believe we will have a long conversation about following orders." Optimus said.

Bulkhead groaned. Even when he wins, he loses.

Nightshade and Blackout took Lugnut into the forest as deep as possible before letting the large mech rest against a tree. Nightshade knelt down and looked him over, frowning at the damages he had sustained in captivity. Damn those vermin! Even the Autobots weren't this brutal to their Decepticon prisoners, though what could she expect from a savage species such as this one?

"They certainly did a number on you, didn't they?" She muttered. "Don't worry, we'll have Knockout fix you up in no time."

"Ugh, l-lady Nightshade?" Lugnut groaned. She put a finger to her lips.

"Hush now and power down. You're in safe hands now." Nightshade turned to Blackout. "Call Soundwave for a ground bridge."

The warrior nodded and got to it, while Nightshade stood up and looked in the direction of the deserted city. They may have won the day, but she was not going to let this go. No one, let alone a bunch of humans, are going to get away with insulting Decepticon honor like this! She didn't care if Megatron dismissed them as a threat, she will hunt down those savages and tear them limb from limb. This she swore on the Allspark.

XXXXXXX

Back at OZ headquarters, Aries sat in his quarters looking over the data they had gained from dissecting Lugnut. In his hand was a recorder, which he spoke of his latest findings on the metal aliens from beyond.

"Despite the surprise attack on our facility, we have managed to transfer most of the acquired data to a sanitized location with no problems." He said. "A schematic of the subject's vital components and samples of his armor and severed limb are enough to initiate Project Chimera. Though such a project is far from completion with limited information to go on, I am confident that we can acquire another living subject to further our studies."

Aries smirked. Things were already going in his favor. Looking at the information on the screen, he couldn't help but feel alive. Soon the power of the living machines will belong to OZ. And the world will become the Nirvana that it was destined to be.


	17. Fire in the Sky

Chapter 17-Fire in the Sky

Aquarius let out another curse as she blew into her gloved hands to warm them up. She never did well in cold weather, and Alaska was as cold as it could get without reaching the Arctic.

Thanks to Aries losing the Decepticon he had captured, Aquarius had found herself with a team in one of the coldest places in Delpoi looking for the source of a weak energy signature that was possibly cybertronian in origin. They had been there to nearly two days with nothing to show for it, and the weather was starting to fray some nerves, namely hers.

Stomping out of the tent she was working in, Aquarius looked around at the camp that was set up. All around her, OZ soldiers were running around hard at work, giving short salutes when they passed near her. Just outside the camp, the mining Talos-the Asuka mining units-were hard at work digging up the ground where the signal was coming form, scooping up ice and snow with their large shovel hands and digging through the earth with arm mounted power drills.

A mile from the camp was a large black airship that contrasted with the white snow, and three Hurricane VTOL jets placed in front of it. The jets were a perfect addition to their arsenal, but they were very expensive, and she was only allowed to take a certain amount with her on the mission.

At the edge of the excavation site was Aquarius's assistant, Tessa Sage. She was a young woman in her early twenties with dark blue, almost black, hair tied into a loose bun, sunglasses over her cerulean blue eyes and dressed in thick clothing like everyone else.

Tessa was a member of OZ's Inner Circle, the cabal that knew of the Zodiac and worked towards helping them achieve their goal of changing the world. Many of its members were people, human and esper, who proved to be useful to the cause and helped the Zodiac either through secret funds or getting them access to places so hush hush that not even the President knew of them.

She was holding a laptop in one hand and furiously typing away with her free hand, not even needing a chair to work properly.

"If you're here for a progress report, then I must repeat my earlier statement. We haven't found a thing." Tessa said, not looking at Aquarius.

"I can see that, Tessa. Thank you." She said tersely. "How long will it take for them to reach our prize?"

"Depends on whether the source point in merely buried in the stone or under layers of rock. If it's the latter, then you better get to work on building an igloo."

Aquarius held in her frustration and remained calm. Tessa had a mouth about her that she wasn't afraid to use on friend or foe. The little bitch was lucky she was useful, or the general would've caused a tumor to manifest in her brain.

"Well tell them to speed it up. The Talos can't operate in these frigid conditions for too long." She ordered.

"Your wish is my command." Tessa quipped.

Before anything could be done, a soldier ran up to Aquarius and saluted her. "General!"

"What is it soldier?" She asked.

"Beta team in sector 3 has found something big, sir!" He reported.

Aquarius raised an eyebrow and motioned for the soldier to lead her to the dig site. They walked through the camp to the second excavation area on the other side of the camp. Once they got there, Aquarius and Tessa were surprised by what they found.

Aquarius smiled. "This is definitely a find worth waiting for."

But high above the camp, round object was recording everything that was going on.

XXXXXXX

Starscream glared at the monitor in front of him. He spent the last hour watching the video feed from a drone that he had Knockout whip up for him and sent out to investigate the energon signal that popped up. It was too faint for Megatron to really care about, but the Seeker jumped at the chance to get a possible lead over the warlord, thinking it might be something of use that he could deploy against him.

As much as Megatron like to brag about his invulnerability, Starscream knew that he had a weakness, everyone had one. And it was only a matter of time before he found it and used it to bring Megatron to his knees. This little mystery signal from Alaska might just be the thing he was waiting for, and the humans were going to help him get it.

"You find anything yet Screamer?" Zapmaster's annoyingly smug voice asked behind him.

Starscream turned around to see his Minicon with Thundercracker and Skywarp in the doorway, all wearing mocking looks on their faces. Normally he wouldn't give a damn about those two, but the looks they were giving him were grating on his nerves.

"Perhaps." Starscream spat. "Though I doubt either of you glitches would understand."

"Whoa, where did all the hostility come from?" Thundercracker laughed. "We're just a bit worried. You haven't been recharging lately."

"Yeah, we know you want to overthrow Megatron, but give it a rest. You won't find any weaknesses on him." Skywarp said.

"Of course he has a weakness you fools!" Starscream yelled and turned back to his monitor. "No one is unbeatable. Not the Primes, not Deadscream, and certainly not Megatron. Everyone has a weakness."

"Well, you need to find it first." Zapmaster said.

Starscream paid no attention to them. It was no use getting aggravated and overheating. Watching the footage from his drone for a few minutes, his dour mood did an about face immediately and he began to laugh. The smiles on the other Seekers' faces fell as Starscream turned to face them again, this time with his trademark smirk splitting his face.

"Gentlemen, it seems the humans have found something of use to us." He said and motioned to the monitor. Skywarp and Thundercracker looked at the images and were shocked.

The humans had found a cybertronian buried in the snow.

XXXXXXX

It was the end of the day at Heartsgrace middle school and the kids were filing out of the building eager to make use of their freedom. With it being late fall, the sun was already on the verge of setting and the day was quickly fading away. But two students were unfortunate enough not to be out enjoying themselves.

"Miss Radcliffe," Mr. Rosenburg sighed. "This is the fifth time you have failed to turn in your science report. You grades in this class, as well as others, are not looking very good. What do you think I am supposed to do here?"

Annie sucked her teeth and tried to look as innocent as possible. "Maybe…give me a pass?"

"Do you understand the position you're in?" He yelled, making her jump. "If you continue to either fail your major projects or hand them in late, you're in danger of repeating the year! And that means summer school young lady!"

Annie bit her lip. Yeah, summer school was very bad. He sighed and gave her an ultimatum.

"I'm giving you one last chance to turn in you complete report on the effects of drastic temperature change. And to make sure that you actually get it done," He motioned to the other occupant in the room. "Mister Koss will be doing it with you."

"Wait what?" Both children exclaimed. "But why me? I didn't do anything wrong!" Kevin protested.

"No, but you're the only one who hasn't turned in his report either. So in addition to helping your friend here complete her report, you'll be turning yours in as well." Mr. Rosenburg said.

"But.." Annie started but a look from the science teacher shut her up.

Both children gloomily exited the classroom, and walked down the empty hall towards Annie's locker. Once they were out of earshot, Annie punched Kevin hard in the shoulder.

"This is all your fault!" She yelled.

"How is my fault?" Kevin asked, rubbing his arm. "You decided to be lazy and not do your report."

"And now I'm stuck doing it with you." She said, picking Grindor out of her locker. "I'm not even going to use this crap in the future, so why the hell do I have to learn it?"

"Well…Since you want to be a Talos pilot, it's important to know stuff like this. Just in case you get stranded in the Artic or something." Kevin winced. That sounded bad even to him.

Annie looked at him like he was stupid and marched down the hall. "I'm going to meet Bulk outside."

"Hey, Annie, what's wrong?" Grindor asked.

"Nothing, now shut up and play dead."

XXXXXXX

Bulkhead exited the ground ridge in the Ark's shuttle bay, where Gina and Bumblebee were already in with Ratchet at the controls. It was a very quiet and uncomfortable ride, with Kevin and Annie giving each other the cold shoulder. When he asked what was wrong, Kevin mentioned something about a science report but Annie told him to shut up and that was the end of that.

He figured that she was still cross with him for not taking her advice on killing Lugnut when he was captured by OZ. He tried to explain to her why he didn't but she was quite adamant that it was a kill or be killed world, and Lugnut won't extend that courtesy to him. Sometimes he was surprised by how bloodthirsty she could be.

Gina looked down at them from her spot on Ratchet's shoulder and whistled. "Oh dear, what happened this time?"

"Don't know, don't want to know." Was all Bulkhead said before leaving the room.

"Where's Darren?" Bumblebee asked.

"Out helping Melody with some errands." Annie said bored. Then she got an idea and glanced at Ratchet. "Yo doc bot. Do you know how metal reacts when exposed to drastically changing temperatures?"

"Not now, Annie," Ratchet said. "Teletran is picking up a faint signal."

"Is it a Minicon?" Gina asked. Ratchet shook his head.

"No, it's different. I think this is a cybertronian life signature." The medic said in astonishment.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, but it's faint. And I don't know whether it's one ours or theirs."

"I can go check it out." Bumblebee offered.

"Not without me you aren't." Jazz entered the room, looking chill as always.

"Are you sure Jazz?" Ratchet asked. Jazz smirked.

"Of course I'm sure. It's just a scouting mission. It's right up my alley." He said. "Fire up the bridge doc."

Ratchet inputted the coordinates and activated the ground bridge. Jazz and Bumblebee ran into the portal, where they disappeared in the vortex. And no one noticed that Annie and Kevin had also mysteriously disappeared.

XXXXXXX

The ground bridge manifested in the middle of a snowy forest in the heart of Alaska. Jazz and Bumblebee jumped out of the portal weapons primed. When they saw that it was clear, they put their weapons away. The ground bridge closed behind them, and the serenity of the forest returned in no time.

"This place is cold, guess Darren wasn't kidding when he said that this place was a regular winter wonderland." Jazz commented.

"Hate to see what the Arctic is like." Bumblebee said. Jazz took out his scanner.

"Hope we don't have to. Let's get a move on."

They Autobots walked through the quiet forest, with only the only sound being the crunching of snow under their feet. Bumblebee didn't waste any time in trying to take in everything around him. Snow was practically non-existent on Cybertron aside from the glacial plains at the poles. So for the scout this was certainly a treat.

Jazz chuckled at the scout's child-like wonderlust with the scenery and returned to watching the scanner. But then he lost his smile and stopped short, almost making Bumblebee bump into him.

"Bee, can I ask you something?"

"You already did, but yes." He said.

"Did we secure the ground bridge when we got here?" Jazz asked.

"I think so. Why?"

"Annie, I swear to all that is holy when we get out of here, I'm smoking your ass!" Kevin's voice sounded behind them.

"That's why." Jazz answered.

They turned around to see Annie, Kevin and Grindor walking through the snow. The girl looked like she was freezing, as she lacked any sort of warm protection, but Kevin was more than fine. The snow under him was actually melting under his feet. The two Autobots looked down at the trio with disapproving looks.

"Care to explain why you three are here, Annie?" Jazz inquired. Annie had the decency to look sheepish.

"I may have tripped and fell into the ground bridge before it shutdown." She said quietly. Kevin scoffed.

"Please, you jumped ship and pulled me along as your partner in crime. And I don't even know what the hell Grindor was doing." He said, making her shake her fist at him.

"You're supposed to be protecting her, Grindor." Bumblebee said. Grindor shrugged helplessly.

"Sorry! Though to be fair, I am supposed to watch over her. Keeping her out of trouble is Bulkhead's job."

Jazz sighed. They didn't have time for this. "Okay, look. You three can come along, but stay out of sight. If things get hairy, you haul ass it out of there. Okay?"

"Okey dokey!" Annie chirped.

Kevin shook his head. The Autobots spoiled this girl rotten.

XXXXXXX

The Seeker trio flew through the air at sound breaking speeds towards their intended destination. They flew in triangle formation with Starscream taking point. With neither Megatron, Nightshade or Soundwave were aware of their activities, they were on their own in this operation. Not that Starscream minded, the less Megatron new, the better.

"So what's the plan, Starscream? How do we hit them?" Thundercrakcer asked.

"How else? Hard and fast. Those vermin won't know what hit them when a true Decepticon warrior strikes them with the fury of a thousand Seekers." Starscream said haughtily.

"Uh, I'm all for shoving missiles up their assess Starscream," Skywarp said uncertainly. "But aren't these the guys who took down Lugnut? That guy is no slouch in battle."

"What Lugnut excels in physically, he lacks mentally. Those humans will kneel under the power of warriors who know what they are doing!" Starscream bellowed dramatically. "Seekers, to victory!"

"We're so dead." Thundercracker groaned.

XXXXXXX

Tessa and Aquarius watched as the Zygart Talos tried to tow the large white mech out of the ground. It was proving to be difficult as their find was very heavy and the snow was not too stable to hold their combined weight. It would take a while to remove the body, but for the general, they had already won the day.

"Gentlemen, congratulations are in order!" She said to the assembled soldiers and pilots. "What we have here is a discovery the likes of which has not been seen since the discovery of the cube. You should all be proud. With this power, not even those pompous fools in Britannia can stop us! The world is ours!"

"All hail the Zodiac!" The soldiers chanted.

Hidden from view, the two Autobots and their human tag alongs were watching the proceedings from behind a hill near the forest.

"Is that those OZ goons you told me about?" Kevin asked.

"Yup. The black jumpsuits, Talos and megalomania should've been a clue." Jazz said. "This makes things a bit more complicated."

"So…what's the plan?" Annie asked. "Do we rush in and hit them hard before they have a chance to bring out their big guns?"

"No way, Bulkhead tried that and he was almost killed." Grindor whispered. "And he's like, three Bumblebees in one."

"Don't you ever think things through?" Kevin asked. Annie glared at him.

"Of course I do. That was my plan, and its foolproof." She said.

"A foolproof plan made by a fool, that's a sight." He snorted.

"God, you sound just like Darren and his responsibility schtick. Where's your sense of adventure?"

"There's a difference between bravery and stupidity, Annie." Kevin replied and huffed, blowing smoke from his mouth. "And I'd rather be alive to enjoy the adventure in question."

"Quiet." Jazz said. He motioned for Bumblebee to come closer. "Bee, can you sneak in closer behind those crates?"

He pointed over to a group of large cargo crates that were settled there by the airship not too far from the camp. Bumblebee nodded and quietly made his way over to them, careful not to make a noise. Once the scout was in his hiding place, Jazz turned to the others.

"You three, stay here and out of sight. I mean it." He ordered. Jazz then jogged over to a group of trees near the excavation site opposite of the crates.

"Of course he'd let us hang back." Annie huffed. Then she noticed Grindor looking at something. "Grindor, what's up?"

"That tent. I've seen Aquarius go in and out of that place. I think it's where she's staying." He said.

"Yeah, so?" Annie asked.

"If that's where she is staying, then perhaps she might have a laptop or something we can-"

"Steal information from." Kevin finished and smiled. "That's a good idea."

"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Annie grabbed the boys and pulled them down the hill towards the campsite.

XXXXXXX

Aquarius was watching the Talos load the body onto a flatbed truck and haul it off towards the airship when one of the guards came running up to her.

"Ma'am, we've got three NBEs heading right at us at one o'clock!" He reported.

"Well it's about damn time." Aquarius said. "Ready the Talos and fire up the Hurricanes. Blast those trash heaps out of the sky!"

"Yes ma'am."

She turned to Tessa. "Make sure that nothing happens to the body. I don't want anyone who isn't OZ going near it."

"You got it boss." Tessa nodded.

Aquarius walked out of the airship and marched towards the camp. There was no way she was going to let those aliens get the better of her like they did Aries!

XXXXXXX

"Target sighted." Skywarp said.

"Let's give these humans a show, shall we?" Starscream and his seekers primed their missiles and fired them into the camp.

The whole area suddenly erupted in chaos as explosions tore the camp apart. Tents and Talos were destroyed while the unlucky humans were completely blown to bloody pieces. The Seekers circled around for another run, and by this time, the Zygarts were already shooting their long range rifles at them, hitting close but not getting any direct hits. Starscream was about to let loose another payload when Thundercracker yelled something behind him.

"What is it!" He shouted.

"We've got three bogeys on out tail!" The blue seeker announced.

Indeed the three Hurricane jets were already in pursuit of the trio. Once they were in position, they locked onto them and fired three heat seeking missiles. The Seekers scattered, but two of the missiles hit Thundercracker in his wing, and another got Starscream's thrusters.

"How dare you!" He yelled.

Starscream transformed in the air and pushed himself backwards, shooting past the jets so that he was behind them and fired his arm cannons before they could scatter. He clipped the wing of one of them and it descended towards the ground near the airship in a violent crash.

Slywarp teleported above the second jet, transforming and landing on it. He ripped off one of its wings and flew forward so he could throw the wing at the cockpit. The wing smashed through the glass and skewered the cockpit, bisecting the pilot inside and making the jet explode.

Thundercracker spun in the air so that he was flying at his pursuer upside down. When they neared each other, he righted himself and released his cluster bombs in the few seconds they had passed over each other, destroying the last jet in a fiery explosion.

From the ground, Aquarius forced herself not to scream in outrage. Those damn jets had cost her a fortune (someone else's fortune) and they just took them out like they were paper airplanes!

"Fine then, let's take the battle to my level." She said. Aquarius ran forward and jumped up. The snow under her feet became smooth like ice as she skated on it with preternatural skill, spinning her body gracefully.

The snow and ice around her floated into the air at her mental command, surrounding her body as she spun. When she had enough water gathered, Aquarius raised her arms into the air and the huge mass of water shot skywards.

The Seekers didn't know what hit them. Starscream and Thundercracker found themselves encased in large orbs of water that immediately froze and went falling towards the earth. Skywarp was just fast enough to teleport away from the first wave, but then two sharp tendrils of water stabbed through his wing, sending him flying out of balance. He was forced to warp his way to ground level.

The Seekers crashed to the ground in a cloud of snow and ice. The impact shattered their icy prisons and they reconfigured into robot mode just as a whole platoon of Orion tanks advanced upon them with their auto cannons and missile launchers. Skywarp appeared beside them and raised his weapons.

' _Well this day went from bad to worst really fast.'_ Thundercraker thought.

XXXXXXX

"Oh man." Bumblebee gulped. He was watching the battle unfold, having almost gotten hit by one of the missile the Seekers shot at the camp. "Jazz, you seeing this?"

"I sure am, Bee." Jazz said from across the camp. "They Cons just made this a lot harder for us."

Meanwhile at the command tent, Kevin, Annie and Grindor were hard at work in getting information on OZ. The tent was mostly empty save for a few books, a crate, a sleeping bag and a laptop. Grindor got to work on the laptop, scanning for any files that were important the minute it turned on.

"Wait. What's that file there?" Kevin asked, pointing to the corner of the screen.

Grindor clicked it and some sort of list popped up. Annie read the list.

"Alejandro Corner, Wang Liu Mei, Laguna Harvey, Antonov Carlton-Ritz…" She muttered.

"Who are these people?" Grindor asked.

"Many of these guys are either top dogs in Talos manufacturing, heirs to vast fortunes or the CEOs of companies." Kevin said.

"Yeah, I recognize that Corner guy. He's the head of Linear Train Industries. They make Talos for the Helic military and private military contractors." Annie said.

"I guess this explains where OZ get's most of its tech from." Kevin said.

Grindor pulled out a data slug and plugged it into the computer. It only took a few seconds for the data transfer to be complete before he was forced to take it out. Someone was outside.

"Hide!" Annie hissed.

Grindor transformed and Annie picked him up as she and Kevin hid behind some crates. Tessa walked in looking as calm as ever despite a battle going on outside. She looked at her laptop for a moment before shrugging and downloading her files onto a flash drive before turning it off and taking it with her. When they were sure she was gone, they breathed a sigh of relief.

"That was close." Annie said.

"Let's get out of here before our luck runs out." Kevin said.

They got out of hiding and went for the tent flaps. But the moment they stepped outside, they were face to face with Aquarius. The general looked down at them surprised, but that quickly faded.

"Well, well. What do we have here?" She smiled. "I certainly can't have two children fooling around in a warzone, now can I?"

Grindor transformed out of Annie's arms and leapt forward, kicking Aquarius in the chest. The blow knocked the breath from her and she went to the ground, but in a flurry of fluid motions she spun her body around and the snow on the ground liquefied into water. Using her body, she sent the water tendrils shooting at the kids like they were her extra arms.

Kevin pushed Annie behind him and sent out huge flames that evaporated the tendrils in a cloud of steam. Grindor fired his wrist cannons, but Aquarius brought up a wall of ice thick enough to block the bullets. She waved her arms and the ice melted and shot at the Minicon in the form of spikes that stabbed into the ground around him. Grindor tried to run, but went down when a spike lodged itself in his shoulder.

"Grindor!" Annie screamed.

Her scream was heard by Jazz, who turned and saw them being attacked by the woman. Cursing, he ran out of cover and for the humans. The soldiers took notice of him, and opened fire, but he paid them no attention as he raced for the kids.

Aquarius saw Jazz coming and waved her arms through a series of motions. The snow under Jazz's feet froze and then spikes shot up from the ground. Fortunately Jazz was fast enough to avoid getting skewered and he escaped the death trap to fire a blast at Aquarius. The woman back flipped from the attack and lashed out with more razor sharp ice discs.

"We got to move, now!" Grindor grabbed the children and pulled them away from the camp.

XXXXXXX

Bumblebee watched the battle going on both sides of the camp. The Seekers were holding their own against the Talos, but the heavy artillery being sent at them was running them ragged. And Jazz was having a hard time trying to pin down the Zodiac general.

He knew that Jazz was a great fighter. He practically invented the Autobot Special Operations service. On top of that he was a master at martial arts and a hard mech to pin down in a one on one battle. But to see him having a hard time with Aquarius was not something he was expecting.

Aquarius was almost as agile and fast as Jazz, jumping and flipping around using the water she was controlling to defend her as she also used the snow and ice around them to keep Jazz at bay. Like Aries, she was no slouch when it came to fighting.

But the scout new that he had a job to do. Bumblebee made his way over to the airship, where the flatbed truck was parked with the mech on the cargo ramp. When he got close enough to study the mech, he was surprised to realize that he knew him.

The mech was white with some rd lines running horizontally along his torso. He was large, maybe even a head taller than Optimus, and had a white mouth plate with a blue visor. The wings on his back cemented that he was a flyer, and the Autobot symbol on his lower abdomen helped tell the scout that this was a friend.

Bumblebee had met this mech not too long after he had grown out of his protoform stage. The mech was a former seeker who had defected to the Autobots when the Decepticons threatened to sack Vos. The great explorer and all around ladies mech…Jetfire!

"Time to wake up from you beauty sleep Snow White." Bumblebee muttered.

He reached into his thigh compartment and pulled out three vials of high grade energon. They were rations given to all Autobots on the team in the event that they were separated from the group and stranded or wounded without aid. The energon was only to be used in case of emergencies, but Bumblebee figured this counted as an emergency.

He injected the energon into the back of Jetfire's neck and waited. It didn't take long for Jetfire's systems to reboot. Within seconds the former seeker came back online and the first thing he saw was Bumblebee standing over him.

"Huh…w-wha…?" Jetfire groaned. his voice held a notable accent, one that sounded oddly similar to Australian. His blue visor flickered for a moment before it slowly lit up. "Did anyone get the name of that Thunderhoof that hit me?" then he noticed the scout. "Bee? Is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me Jetfire." He said. The white mech let out a laugh and clapped him on the back.

"Haha! I knew I was on the right track!" Jetfire bellowed. "It's good to see you little dude!"

"Same here." Bumblebee laughed. It felt good to see another Autobot from Cybertron again.

"Where's Prime and the rest of your team? And where the hell are we?" Jetfire asked. Then he noticed the airship and vehicles. "What's with the junk piles?"

Bumblebee gave Jetfire a highly summarized retelling of what was going on, explaining how he was found buried in the ground by the humans who were planning to kill him.

"Well damn, that's something else. The first planet I land on, turns out to be home to a race of cannibals. Swell." Jetfire said. "Though, I can't remember how I even got down here."

"Jetfire! My old friend."

Starscream walked up to them, looking like he had been through hell and back. His body was covered in dents and scorched armor where the missiles hit him. He was gingerly holding onto his left arm as he tried to look friendly to his former colleague.

"Oh, hey Screamer." Jetfire said.

"It's not Screa-" starscream took a deep breath to reign in his temper. "It's good to see you old friend. I was afraid that those vile humans had done irreparable damage to you. We must leave before the other Autobots come."

"Screamer, I'm an Autobot."

"And I am a Decepticon. But we both are Seekers first and foremost, and Seekers always look after themselves." Starscream said. "Am I correct?"

"Yeah, you are right about that." Jetfire muttered. Bumblebee looked a bit worried. He wasn't going to believe Starscream was he?

Starscream smirked. "Yes. We Seekers are the true gods on this world. Will you join me in rebuilding our legacy?"

"I'd say yes, but then I remember that you're a pathological liar who killed his sister and sold Vos to the Cons. So…no thanks. I'm good."

Jetfire drew a large black particle cannon and shot Starscream in the chest before he could even blink. The Con went flying back and crashed at the feet of his two subordinates. Starscream growled and pulled himself up.

"You will regret that, Jetfire! Mark my words!" He hissed. "Seekers! To me!"

The three Cons transformed and took flight. Jetfire made to fly after them to teach them a lesson he planned on doing for a long time, but found himself still grounded. He looked back and saw that his boosters, as well as everything else, was not working properly, and he doubt that he would get much out of transforming.

"I need some new wings. But where to find one…" He trailed off when he saw the still intact wreck of a Hurricane that was shot down earlier. "That'll do."

Aquarius, who was still fighting Jazz, happened to look over at Jetfire just in time to see something that she would never forget.

Jetfire didn't waste any time in scanning the jet, downloading its internal and external schematics into his brain module and T-cog. The scanning process was inherent in all cybertronians, allowing them to scan new alt modes that were around the same size and mass as them. The Hurricane was just right to Jetfire.

Once he was done scanning the jet, his body began to change. New parts morphed from old and rusted armor plating, his very superstructure changing like it was made of liquid metal. Within seconds, Jetfire stood tall and strong in a in a new Terran form and he jumped up. His body transformed into a modified version of the Hurricane and sped off into the sky.

"So that's how it's done." Aquarius muttered. She looked at Jazz and radioed her forces. "All units pull back. I've seen enough for today."

She slashed at Jazz with water that covered his vision. When he ran forward, he saw that she was gone. And so were her men.

XXXXXXX

Starscream was livid. To think that he, a proud Seeker of the Decepticons, was forced to run from a bunch of humans! The very thought enraged him beyond recognition. His only solace was that Megatron didn't know about this, or he would be lording his failure around like it was the freaking Matrix!

His musings were interrupted when he heard Skywarp cry out behind him. Two missiles had hit the purple Seeker in his underside and sent him spiraling down to the forest.

"What was that?" Thundercracker yelled. He and Starscream only saw a white blur shoot past them before four more missiles rain down on them.

The duo managed to avoid getting blown out of the sky and flew higher to return fire of their own. But in their damaged state, combined with the obviously superior aerial maneuvers of the their assailant, it did little to help them in their predicament. Starscream caught the white and red paint job of the jet attacking them and growled.

"Jetfire!"

Jetfire did a nose dive at Thundercracker, who flew up at him. When it looked like the two flyers would collide with each other, Jetfire gunned his boosters and angled his descent so that he was only a few inches above Thundercracker. At the last minute, he turned his body vertically and used his wing to slice cleanly through Thundercracker's. Once he passed, Jetfire switched to robot mode and fired his particle cannon and shot out the Seeker's thrusters.

Thundercraker went falling towards the ground. He was smart enough to angle his body so that he would at least land in the trees instead of the cold, hard ground. He crashed through the branches and landed on his behind in a snow mound, bruised but in one piece.

"This is what I get for following Starscream!" Thundercracker yelled.

Starscream was chasing Jetfire around, firing his cannons wildly. But compared to the older and much experienced flyer, Starscream was a protoform with malformed wings. Jetfire wasn't even trying to fight back, he was enjoying just throwing Starscream around for a loop without wasting any fuel.

"You're always talking, always laughing, always cracking those annoying jokes that no one even likes!" Starscream shouted. "Why won't you leave me alone?!"

"Because I don't like leaving my trash lying around, Screamer." Jetfire said.

He transformed and shot at Starscream like a bullet. Starscream panicked and tried to evade, but Jetfire's large body crashed into him with the force of Optimus Prime's punch (and he would know what that felt like). Jetfire grabbed the Seeker and spun him around before throwing him like a javelin into the forest below, hearing a satisfying crash in the trees.

Jazz and Bumblebee watched the aerial battle from the ground with awed looks on their faces.

"Wow, I forgot how much of a beast he was in the air." Jazz said.

Jetfire returned to the destroyed camp, landing on the ground with a thump and blowing away the tents at his feet.

"I've been waiting a long time to do that." Jetfire said.

"That was so cool!" Annie shouted as she and Kevin appeared, holding the wounded Grindor.

Jetfire looked down at them and groaned. "Great, the locals love violence. Just my day."

XXXXXXX

The appearance of the new Autobot was a welcome surprise to Team Prime, but they accepted Jetfire with open arms all the same. Optimus explained to the children that Jetfire was a member of the Seekers before he quit and joined the Autobots before the war could even be called that.

Jetfire stepped out of the CR chamber and looked at his reflection and whistled. "I look gorgeous. Better than I've ever been."

"I'm glad to hear that Jetfire." Optimus said. "But we have to know. How did you come to be here?"

"Well, Commander Elita-1 sent me off world to find you guys and update you all on how things are going on Cybertron…or alternatively confirm your demise." Jetfire said.

The Autobots were all a bit saddened to hear that the war was still going on Cybertron. But one thing caught Prime's attention.

"Commander?" He inquired. Jetfire nodded.

"Yeah, Elita-1 is leading the Autobot forces now. Or at least it was like that when I left the planet. Some slag happened and Ultra Magnus gave her overall leadership of the Autobots. By then, the Autobots had regained half of the planet's territory from the Cons."

Optimus was relieved to know that his conjux and first lieutenant was still alive and well. And even more elated to know that the War was not lost on Cybertron, despite this information being a bit out of date.

Jetfire had gone on to explain that he followed the trail left by the space bridge and warped to the Sol system using a new invention of Perceptor's reverse engineered from Skywarp's powers-the Transwarp Drive. It was his first time using it, so when he transwarped to Terra, he accidentally warped into Terra's gravity well and got pulled in.

It was thanks to his dense armor that he didn't burn up in orbit, but the impact of hitting the ground so hard had knocked him into stasis.

"Do you think you can use the Transwaro drive again to get back to Cybertron?" Wheeljack asked.

"Sorry Jackie. That thins guzzles up energon like nothin' else. I think it's because of that thing, that I went into stasis in the first place."

"All the dame we're glad to have on the team, Jetfire." Optimus said, holding out his hand. Jetfire looked at him.

"Well, glad to be here Prime. But I was thinking about flying around the world. Seeing the sights and all that." He noticed the looks he was getting and added, "I'll keep an eye out for anything strange and call in regularly. Seeker's honor."

"We'll take that at face value." Prowl commented.

Jetfire went for the ground bridge, but a tap on his foot made him look down. Comettor was there at his ankle. "What's up little guy?"

"I want to come with you! I've always wanted to be partnered with a Seeker." He said excitedly.

"Well if it's alright with old Sparky here." Jetfire looked at the yellow Minicon, who nodded.

"Don't worry, he can go. Just be sure to take good care of him." Sparkplug said.

"Will do." Jetfire looked at Arcee and winked, or gave what was supposed to be a wink, at her. "Call me."

Arcee rolled her eyes.

Comettor powerlinked with Jetfire as the mech walked into the ground bridge and disappeared from sight. Annie shook her head.

"I am so going to get riding sessions from him." She said. She looked at Kevin. "I think I'm ready for that report now. You game?"

"Always." Kevin smirked.

XXXXXXXX

Aquarius stood behind Tessa as they watched the recording of Jetfire's scanning of the jet. They were in one of their safe houses in a secure location, awaiting the retrieval team to get the airship and their remaining Talos back.

"This is something else." Tessa said. She was just as entranced by the process as the general, and that was saying something for the normally stoic woman. "I didn't think they could do something like this."

"Yes, well, these cybertronians have a way of making us underestimate them." Aquarius said. She tapped a key and brought up a picture of Annie and Kevin with Grindor.

"And it would seem that we aren't the only humans they've encountered."


	18. Hereafter

Chapter 18-Hereafter

The Yellowstone forest was dark and quiet. Not even the light of the full moon could pierce the darkness that enveloped the area. The nocturnal creatures that inhabited the forest this late at night were strangely silent. And they were all avoiding the area where two metal giants did battle in the forest, an area that one of the metal giants was still prowling around. The greatest predator in the land that all animals feared.

But tonight, more metal giants were stalking the forest. Four of them were black as night, fifth was dark red. They were Talos, and their weapons systems were primed and charged for anything that came at them. Though they what they were hunting was no animal.

"Suppression fire only," Aries said through the tact net. "We take this one alive."

Aries was leading a squad through the forest in search of a cybertronian that was reported to be roaming the area. From what they heard over the radio transmission they intercepted, it was wounded and was calling for help. The general wasted no time in mobilizing in order to capture another potential subject to dissect.

Still, they were all on high alert. The Zodiac had taught their soldiers to never underestimate a cybertronian, even a wounded one. Lugnut was half dead and he still managed to kill many of them before he succumbed to his wounds.

Aries heard something run through the braches above them, something large. He spun his unit around and fired a shot from his shoulder cannon. The shell missed the figure and blew up a tree trunk. The other Talos fired their weapons at the figure, but it evaded them and ran into a narrow crevice.

"Don't let it get away!" Aries shouted.

They made their Talos jumped down into the crevice, using their unit's auto-balancing systems to keep them upright as they landed on the ground. Aries took point and watched the scanner intently for any sign of their quarry. The trail led them deeper into the canyon before the signal just vanished off their sensors.

"What?" Aries felt his danger sense go off and raised his unit's weapons.

Suddenly the dark canyon was brightened by the explosion of one of the Talos behind him. Another flash of light cut the head off another unit and the third had its legs and arms cut off. Aries tried to target their attacker but he couldn't get a fix on them.

"Damn it!" Aries cursed as the fourth Zygart was stabbed through the cockpit and exploded, killing the pilot.

That same assailant came at the Krios and slammed into the Talos, knocking it off balance. It crashed into the rock wall, where it had its arms and legs restrained by a green energy net. Aries opened the cockpit hatch and jumped out, fired his heat beam from his third eye. He missed, and was hit hard enough to send him crashing into the rocks.

Aries found himself pinned to the wall by that same green net and looked up to see his reflection in the red eyes of Flamewar.

"Look what the cat dragged in." Flamewar chuckled, tapping the tip of her crossbow on her cheek. "Here's a tip, if you here a distress signal on an open Decepticon channel, it's most likely a trap."

"I'll be sure to remember that next time." Aries growled. He couldn't shoot her with his heat beam at this distance without blowing himself up.

"Oh honey, there's no next time." She said. Flamewar stalked closer and glared down at him. "Decepticon radio chatter is all abuzz about the makeover you gave Lugnut. As an ex-Con myself, I should decapitate you on the spot!" She made to skewer his torso with her sharp fingertips but held back at the last moment. "But you could be of use to me."

"How's so?"

"You seem I may get in and out of places some bots can't, but I don't know a lot about this world. And I am currently at a disadvantage after my sister and her pet destroyed my ship and skinned my knee." Flamewar said. "I want to pay them back in kind. And you're going to help me?"

"And what's in it for me?" He asked.

"I let you live." She answered. "And sine you're looking to capture a…Transformer, as you call us, I'll throw in what's left of Arcee. After I've broken her." She added.

Aries was wary of making a deal with the literal devil here, but he didn't have much of a choice. Still, this was a blessing in disguise and it was an opportunity that he wasn't going to turn up.

XXXXXXXX

It was nearing sundown as the twins Darren and Annie walked through their quiet neighborhood with the disguised High Wire and Grindor in tow. Things were peaceful for once, which was a blessing considering how noisy their day had become.

"So…when were you guys gonna tell us that there was such a thing as shrieking monkeys in Nyx?" Grindor said. Darren rolled his eyes.

"They're not monkeys," He said. "They're Phookas. And we didn't mention them because they are rare and hard to find."

"Then it was just our luck to run into a whole damn colony of them, eh?" High Wire groaned.

They were just returning from another Minicon retrieval mission. This one was in the primal land of Nyx. The children, under the protection of Centurion, had aided the Autobots in locating and retrieving a panel stuck in the center of a small brush. When they tried extracting the panel, they ran into a group of black furred creatures called Phooka, who give a terrifyingly loud screech that sounded like a woman's scream.

Surprisingly enough, at close range, those screams actually caused them physical pain. Even Centurion couldn't stand the combined noise of their screams, nearly breaking apart because of the strain it caused on his mind. They only managed to get out after Darren sent out a telekinetic pulse that knocked the animals away. They lived, but they lost the panel to Knockout. Prowl wasn't very happy when they got back.

"Well, we're home now, and that's what matters." Annie said. "I for one am not in the mood to hear Prowl rant about us not performing up to snuff."

They approached their house, and were a bit shocked to see their older sister Melody standing on the porch waiting for them. They gave each other a glance that said 'We're in trouble'.

"Where have you been?" Melody asked when they walked up to her. "It's almost dark, and neither of you haven't even called in."

"Sorry Mel, Gina kept us in longer than we thought." Annie lied easily. They already thought of a cover story on the way home. "She had us out looking for some damn fossils in the forest."

Darren notice how haggard his sister looked. "Mel, are you okay? You look really tense."

Melody sighed and ran a hand through her copper hair. "Are you serious? Did you guys forget what Monday is?"

"What's Monday?" Annie asked.

"It's mom and dad's anniversary, Annie."

The twins froze at the same time, and then deflated. They had forgotten about that day, with all the crazy stuff that's been going on. Melody smiled sadly and hugged them both.

"It feels like a decade since we visited them last, doesn't it?" She said. Opening the door, Melody went inside the house. "Put those in the garage and come on in. I've already got dinner ready."

"Sure thing." Darren said.

The Minicons noticed the change in their friends' moods as they were taken into the garage. Once they were safe from prying eyes, High Wire and Grindor transformed.

"Darren, Annie," High Wire said. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, we're fine. Just got the wind taken from our sails, that's all." Annie said.

"What's on Monday?" Grindor asked. High Wire whacked him on the head. "Ow! What did I say? I was curious."

"It's okay, High Wire." Darren said and took a deep breath. "Monday we're visiting our parents' graves. It's the anniversary of their burial."

High Wire's eyes went wide and Grindor gave a low hiss. "Now I feel like an ass." Grindor said. "Sorry."

"It's fine, Grindor, they're dead. There's nothing we can do about it." Annie said coldly. She turned around and walked out the door.

"She doesn't take that day very well." Darren sighed. "Hey…is it alright if Annie and I just go with Mel alone to the grave?" When High Wire Grindor gave him worried looks, he added, "Please, guys. This is a special day for us, and it would mean a lot if you guys just stayed behind."

"Darren, you know how risky that is. What if something happens?" High Wire said.

"Don't worry, I can keep my sisters safe." Darren assured them.

But his guardian was still not convinced. Reaching into his chest compartment, High Wire tool out a tin wrist watch with the Autobrand on the top.

"If you're going alone, then here. It's a watch I had Liftor make just in case we get separated." High Wire said. "Just press the Autobrand and it'll release a distress signal that can be detected by any Minicon or Autobot in the area."

"Not Teletran-1?" Grindor asked. High Wire shook his head.

"No, it's not that strong enough. This is just a prototype." He said. "Even still, I want you to take it."

Darren smiled and took the watch. "Thank you, High Wire. I'll put it to good use, though I hope I won't have to."

He bade them goodbye and left the garage. Despite giving him the watch, High Wire still felt worried about his charge-no friend.

XXXXXXX

Arcee was worried. She always was when it came to the children, or more specifically the twins. Back on Cybertron, people always thought of her as a mother Turbofox with how she was so protective of her sisters. It was born out of a deep fear of losing them to the backwards society that was governed by Form and Function. It was a fear that would soon come true, but she didn't know that back then. Before the war Cybertron was a much different place, more savage and vicious than open fighting.

She had noticed a change in the twins' mood over the past few days. Darren and Annie seemed more subdued than normal, and many of their friends had noticed the change. When she asked Gina what was wrong, the girl didn't answer, saying that it wasn't her place to tell. Kevin was the same way to.

When she could take it no more, she parked herself on the street the twins lived on, situating herself close enough that she could monitor them, but far enough that they won't see her. When it was the middle of the night, Arcee called up High Wire on the internal comm.

"High Wire? You awake?" Arcee asked.

"Yes, Arcee. I haven't been able to recharge yet for some time." High Wire said. "Is something wrong?"

"I've been worried about Darren and Annie. They've been acting strange lately and no one is telling me anything. Not even Gina. Did something happen?"

High Wire was silent for a moment, debating on whether he should tell Arcee or not. Eventually his concern for Darren won out and he told her about how the Radcliffe siblings were going to visit their parents' graves.

" _Primus,"_ Arcee gasped. She forgot that the twins only had their sister looking out for them.

"Arcee, I know that you don't have any obligation to listen to my request," High Wire began. "But could you maybe-"

"I'll do it." Arcee said. "I'll watch over them for you."

"Thank you, Arcee."

He cut the feed and Arcee was left sitting in the dark. She thought back to how she had waking nightmares of Moonracer's death after running into Flamewar. It was the first time she had really dealt with it instead of burying it behind a wall of emotions. She had Darren to thank for that.

" _Arcee, do you copy?"_ Prowl's voice came up on her comm.

"I'm here, Prowl. What's up?"

"You're not back at base. Tonight you have recon duty."

"Sorry Prowl, I'm busy at the moment." Arcee said. "Give it to Ironhide"

"That's unacceptable Arcee. What is so important that you have to shrug off your duties?" Prowl said annoyed.

"Melody is taking Darren and Annie to visit their parents' resting place, and they're not taking the Minicons along. I'm looking after them."

"This is not up for discussion Arcee. I'm bridging you out."

"Sorry, Prowl. But the twins are my priority."

Arcee switched her comm-link off and went into power down. She knew she was going to get a lot of flak from Prowl, but there were more important things to do.

XXXXXXXX

The next morning was no different from the last, though the air had a more somber tone to it. Darren and Annie woke up to a murky, cloudy Monday morning and they felt like the world was weighing down on them. The twins said their goodbyes to their guardians and, after breakfast, followed their sister to the car.

Arcee waited for Melody to gain some distance before following the car down the street. They drove through the downtown area of Tranquility before leaving the town and going through the forest.

It only took them an hour to reach the place they were traveling to, Latta. It was a city south of Tranquility and where the Radcliffes had lived before their father joined the military. Melody drove the twins into the city limits, but stayed near the outskirts of Latta, where the cemetery was. Arcee was careful to keep her distance as she followed the car into the parking lot, where the family got out.

Darren and Annie were quiet as they entered the church that stood in front of the cemetery. It was an old church that their grandmother went to before it was abandoned, but no one had the heart to take down such an old landmark of Latta. When she was sure that they wouldn't notice her, Arcee manifested her holomatter and walked through the church.

She wasn't a religious person, but being inside a place of reverence had sullied her mood further. Humans worshipped all sorts of gods, but the most prevalent was the worship of their goddess Gaia, from who the planet Terra was named after. She exited the church through the rear door and saw the three siblings standing in front of four graves.

Melody finished praying to her parents and grandparents and smiled down at the graves. "Hey mom, dad. We're back, just like we promised. We're doing fine, so I hope you're not worrying too much about us. Darren is doing fine, he's getting better with powers and no one has learned about them yet, which is good. Annie is still a bit of a handful, but that's no surprise there. She gets it from grandma. But they're both good kids, and I'm doing the best I can to take care of them like you'd want me to."

Melody took a deep breath to collect herself. Crying won't help anyone here. "Grandpa, grandma, all three of us are doing what you've told us before. Making sure we live life to the fullest. It's hard with how chaotic the world is getting each day, but we won't let it get us down. I know you two wouldn't let it happen to any of us. I hope all of you are doing fine in the afterlife, and we'll see each other again soon. Though I hope that won't be for a long time."

No one said anything for a while. A cold breeze ran through the cemetery, making Melody shiver.

"I'm going to get the flowers." She said. "Now, be sure to talk to mom and dad before I come back. I know they'd love to hear how you two are doing."

Melody left the twins alone with the graves. They were silent for a few minutes, with Darren sitting on his knees in the grass. After a while, he spoke to Annie.

"You're not going to say anything?" He asked.

"No." She said.

"Really? Not even a little hello or-"

"What the hell does it matter, Darren? They're dead. It's not like they can talk back." Annie sniffed.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Even still, show some respect at least. We barely get any time to visit them these days with how busy Mel is at the clinic."

"What do we say, Darren?" She asked in a sharp tone. "Oh hey mom, dad. You wanna know about the alien robots that we found a few months ago? They're fucking sweet and we almost got killed a few times. Give some time and we might actually meet in person, but don't get your hopes up!" She shook her head. "Fucking hell. What can we say that we haven't spat out the last dozen times?"

"A hello would be a good place to start."

The twins looked behind them to see Arcee's holomatter walking towards them. "Arcee? What are you doing here?" Darren asked.

"High Wire was worried about you, so he sent me to watch over you." She said. "And…I wanted to see how you were doing as well."

"What do you think?" Annie sneered. "We're looking at our parents graves. It's not like we're chatting over a cup of coffee."

"Annie that's enough." Darren said firmly. His sister just huffed and turned back to the tombstones.

Arcee got closer so that she was standing over the twins and looked down at the tombstones. First were their grandparents, Barbara and Peter Radcliffe, and then the parents, Connor and Susan Radcliffe. She pursed her lips and cautiously asked how they died.

"Dad was a Talos pilot in the Republic military, a general." Darren said. "He died in battle when we were eight and Melody was fifteen fighting in the Gulf War. They said that his unit was shot down covering his team's escape."

Arcee bit her lip and looked down. She placed a hand on his shoulder, either for him or for her, she didn't know.

"Mom didn't take it very well. She started drinking and went into depression. It was so bad that grandpa had to take care of us most of the time." He continued. Annie was silent. "This went on for so months after dad died. And then, she just…couldn't take it anymore."

Annie's face was blank during all this. She didn't say anything, but she remembered that day vividly. Darren didn't know this, but she was the one who found their mother's body, lying limp on the floor of their bathroom.

XXXXXXX

Melody tried to sleep in her room, but the heat of the summer night made it hard for her to go to dreamland. But it wasn't just the heat, it was also what was going on with her family. Her mother's condition hadn't improved at all since the funeral six months ago. Susan quit her job and had become an alcoholic, barely registering her children at all. It wasn't until she started yelling at Darren whenever he used his powers that Melody asked her grandfather to help them.

He agreed to move in and watch over them until she got some help. His involvement had helped things greatly around the house, but still things with their mother was on the rocks. She even had to break up and argument between Annie and Susan this morning after Annie was hit for no reason.

'I wish things were back to normal.' She thought sadly. 'Why did you have to die? You said you were going to come back.'

A loud thump from outside caught her attention. Melody got out of bed and left her room to see what was going on. Looking down the hall, she saw her sister, Annie standing in front of the bathroom.

"Annie? What are you doing up?" Melody asked. Annie didn't answer. Melody noticed the glass of water on the floor at the girl's feet and her blank stare. "Annie? Are you alright?"

She went over to her sister and knelt down to check up on her. Seeing that Annie was staring at something, she followed her gaze into the bathroom. Melody gasped as she saw her mother's body on the floor deathly still, with pill bottles strewn all over the place.

"Oh god!" Melody cried and ran to get her grandfather. "Grandpa, wake up! Mom's in trouble!"

Annie just stood there, looking at her mother's corpse.

XXXXXXX

Annie never forgot that night, nor did she forget how she just stood there silently as her mother slowly died from drug overdose. Watching her breathing slow to a crawl before stopping completely, not understanding what was going on or why this was happening. When she didn't answer or move when she called out to her, Annie knew, at some level, that she had lost her. And it shut her down.

She could have done something, anything to help her mother. But instead she just stood there and watched without so much as a tear. A weak little girl who couldn't even save her mother. That thought haunted her for years to come.

"Arcee," Annie said softly. "When you sister died, what did you do? How did you cope with it?"

Arcee looked at the girl and sighed. "Well, I didn't take it well, obviously. I was in a fit for months after that. I was basically taking suicide missions on the off chance that I would get killed one day and I could finally get some peace. Even after meeting Jazz, I had only buried it under all those emotions and memories, trying to forget her entirely because it hurt that she wasn't with me.

"But Darren had helped me deal with it for the first time in…well, forever. I learned that trying to run from the past will only stall the pain, not heal it. If you want to really honor your lost ones, remember who they were, remember all the good times you had together. That's how I'm dealing with it all. And I'm sure that you two can do the same, despite being so young when they passed."

Darren and Annie looked at the pink Autobot in awe. She really had changed since they last met, and she was totally right. Darren dealt with it more calmly than Annie, but he still felt sad because he barely remembered what his parents looked like these days. And when he did, he would still remember his mother's anger whenever he used his powers. But he did have some good memories, of her, so it was best to think of how they were instead of how they died.

"Thanks a lot, Arcee. You're a great friend." He said. Annie nodded, she would take those words to heart, even though it still affected her.

"Anything for you two. This is my thanks for helping me with my demons." Arcee smiled. Then she looked around. "Shouldn't your sister be back by now?"

The twins looked around. "Yeah, it shouldn't take this long for her to get some flowers." Annie noted.

With one final prayer to their family, Arcee and the twins went back to the church. Once they left the building, they saw that Melody's car was still there, but the door was open and the flowers were on the front seat.

"Where is she?" Darren asked, feeling a sense of unease wash over him.

"What's this?" Annie grabbed an envelope that was lying next to the flowers and opened it. When she turned it over a device slid out onto the seat.

" _Hello, Darren, Annie."_ Aries voice came through the communicator.

"Aries?!" The twins exclaimed. Arcee transformed and glared at the device.

"What is that doing here?" She hissed.

"Oz knows who we are?" Darren gasped.

"Thanks to your sister's little excursion with one of my associates, we know everything about you." Aries said. "For instance, do you know where your sister is?"

"If you've done anything to my sister," Annie growled. "I'll-"

"Make no mistake, I would like to avoid any avoidable casualties on this special day for the three of you. So long as you do as I say, there will be no deaths or injuries, at least, none life threatening."

Arcee edged away from them and keyed her comm.-unit. "Ratchet-AGH!" Arcee doubled over in pain as her head was assaulted by a head splitting pain.

"Arcee?" Darren ran over to her.

"Did I forget to mention that this device scrambles all radio signals and you brainwaves?" Aries asked. "Any break in communication or attempt to contact the other Autobots , and I can't be held responsible for what might happen to you precious Melody."

XXXXXXXXXX

Arcee sped down the streets of Latta with the twins in her front seats. It was almost dark now, and it was also raining hard, as if Gaia herself was weeping for their misfortune. Darren held the communicator that led them to the coordinates programmed into the device.

"I can't believe it. If anything happens to Mel because of me I'll never forgive myself." Annie cried. She was angry and scared at the same time and she hated the feeling.

"Annie, relax. OZ only wants me. Once they have me, they'll let your sister go." Arcee said.

"That's not reassuring, Arcee. You're family to." Darren said. Annie nodded at that. Trading the life of a friend for another didn't help matters at all.

She drove to the very edge of the city, where the origin point of the beacon was inside a warehouse near an abandoned amusement park. Arcee barely stopped in the parking lot when a dozen red dots appeared all over her and the twins. It was OZ soldiers, who had their weapons trained on them.

"So what's the plan?" Darren asked slowly.

"The usual." Arcee growled and revved up her engine.

She drove past the soldiers before they could shoot, nearly running them over as she sped into the warehouse. The twins jumped out of Arcee and she transformed.

"Melody! Are you here?" Darren yelled.

"Where are you sis?" Annie shouted.

Suddenly Arcee was entrapped in a green energo-net that pinned her arms to her sides. Darren and Annie spun around to see Flamewar jumped down from the ceiling.

"What is she doing here?" Darren exclaimed.

"She's my new business associate." Aries said as he walked in with his men. The soldiers surrounded the three and pointed their weapons at them.

"Aries," Arcee said, struggling in her bonds. "Let them go. They're human like you."

"I am more than human and esper, Autobot. And what are a few lives compared to a miracle of evolution such as yourself?" Aries snapped his fingers and one of the soldiers fired a scrambler at Arcee.

The Autobot was hit by the EMP/taser device that sent a strong jolt through her body and knocked her out, sending her crashing to the ground. Darren snarled and waved his hands, tearing up strips of the metal floor and pointing them at Aries. The general didn't look all that afraid of the show of force.

"Go ahead," He urged. "You'll be dead before you can fire the first shot."

There was a tense silence afterwards, then Darren scowled and dropped his old over the metal. The soldiers were quick to relieve them of their phones and the communicator. Flamewar chuckled.

"You know, you humans are so easy to manipulate. You all place such great value in family that you make it easy to get you to do whatever I want." Flamewar bent down to glare into Darren's green eyes with her red ones. "So I figured what better way to get some payback than you make you watch me tear your family apart."

"Just try it!" Darren growled. "If you touch her…"

"How about this?" Flamewar grinned. "Let's play a game. If you can save your sister before the clock strikes twelve, then you all can go free."

"And if time runs out?" Annie asked.

"What do you think?"

Darren glared at Aries for a minute before he sent a tiny strip of metal shooting past the man's face. Aries didn't flinch as blood ran down face from the cut on his cheek.

"If anything happens to my sister or Arcee, I'm coming for you."

"I'll be waiting." Aries said.

Darren took Annie's hand and ran out the warehouse towards the amusement park, knowing that they had little more than fifteen minutes before Flamewar starts hunting them.

XXXXXXX

Aries watched the twins from the screen of the portable console that he took with him. Flamewar had begun to stalk them from the shadows, intent on watching them fall into despair.

"Now I know we promised the huntress that she get's a first crack at you," Aries said to the unconscious Arcee. "But something tells me that she's planning to turn out mutual crisscross into a double-cross."

"Sir, we don't have enough equipment to transport it." One of the soldiers said.

"Then we will have to cut and run." Aries replied. "Open her up."

XXXXXXXX

Darren and Annie ran through the park without rest, trying to figure out the most likely place that Melody would be held. They didn't stop to rest, and their legs and lungs were burning, but they were urged on by the knowledge that every minute wasted was putting Arcee in more danger.

"How do we find her? She could be anywhere in this place." Annie panted. "I wouldn't put it past them to tie her to a roller coaster track."

Darren racked his mind for something, but was at a loss. Flamewar was a hard femme to predict, and her allying with Aries of all people was not something he expected. But he could tell it was only a matter of time before those two broke off their alliance and went at each other's throats. That's how these partnerships always end up for the bad guys.

He figured that Flamewar would hide Melody in the house of horrors, but then she would probably hint at that to throw them off. There were too many scenarios to consider, and not enough time to sit around thinking. He could already feel her watching from afar like some lioness on the prowl.

'Wait, feeling? That's it!' He thought. "Annie, I have an idea!"

"What is it?" she asked.

"Follow me!"

Darren took her into a funhouse, hiding from Flamewar's prying eyes. She stood at the door to keep watch while he knelt on the ground with his hand on the dirt.

"I'm going to try a new trick I was working on. It might be able to help us find Melody." He said.

"And I you can't find her in time?" She asked.

"Then pray for her. And us."

Darren closed his eyes and channel his power into the ground. He was planning on using his telekinesis to create of wave of force that will instinctively hone in on Melody. A telekinetic radar wave. The name was still pending.

He took a deep breath and forced a TK wave through his arm and into the ground. He felt the wave pass through the earth, and out through the whole park like a gust of wind. It wasn't long before he felt his wave seek out the very person he was looking for-Melody.

"I found her!"

Flamewar grinned as she saw the twins run out of the building and deeper into the park. She knew that the boy would find her one way or the other. He was resourceful like that. But in the end, she was the one who will win. After all, they only had five minutes left.

XXXXXXXXX

"Melody!"

Melody Radcliffe groaned as woke up. Her head was a bit fuzzy and her body was numb. No it wasn't numb, something was restricting her movements. She opened her eyes and saw that she was surrounded by walls of mirrors. And judging by the reflection, she herself was trapped to a mirror by some kind of net.

"W-what is this?" Melody tried to wriggle herself free.

"Mel!"

She looked up and saw Darren and Annie running towards her.

"Darren, Annie. What is going on here?" She asked. "Where are we? The last thing I remember is these men driving up to me and-what is this stuff?"

"We'll explain that later. Right now we need to run." Annie said as she got to work on freeing her from the net. Darren helped out by ripping the net apart with his telekinesis.

"But wha-Ahhh!" Melody screamed as she looked up. The twins turned around to see Flamewar looking down at them through a hole in the ceiling.

"Back off! We beat you deadline!" Darren shouted. Melody looked at her brother in shock. How was he not afraid of this…thing?

"Oh Darren," Flamewar chuckled, like he was some child who got an easy question wrong. "The challenge wasn't for you to find you sister before midnight. It was to save her. And time's up."

Darren turned to his sisters. "RUN!"

The girls ran past Darren as he shattered all the mirrors in his line of sight and surrounded his body with glass shards. He felt like leveling an entire city block with how many things were going wrong and he planned to let loose on Flamewar.

XXXXXXXXX

After early twenty minutes of cutting through the deceptively tough energo-net, the OZ scientists finally cut through the net with their modified heat-chainsaws. They pulled the netting off Arcee, who opened her eye a bit just in time to see Flamewar fighting Darren on the monitor.

Aries knew that it was only a matter of time before Flamewar was done playing chicken with the esper boy, and he needed to get this operation over with now.

"We only have time to take one part." He said. "Go straight for the heart."

The scientist nodded and grabbed the titanium drill to switch it on. The minute she heard the drill begin to spin, she snapped her eyes open and jumped up, punching the man in the chest. She did not pull her punches, the man would have his chest cavity caved in and his entire rib cage broken. She did a backflip to avoid the heat beam Aries fired at her, and used the explosion to cover her as she punched more soldiers that was shooting at her.

Aries followed her with his eyes and saw her form through the smoke. He was about to fire when Arcee ripped a panel from the floor and threw it at the general. The metal hit Aries in the head, right in his third eye and making him stumble back.

He growled and tried to shoot her, but instead of a beam of superheated air shooting from his eye, he felt the air around him heat up before exploding in his face. Aries was sent flying back into the screen from the backfired explosion and growled angrily as he saw Arcee transform and drive away.

The soldiers tried to follow her, but he held them back. "Let her go! No matter the outcome, the spoils will be ours!"

XXXXXXX

"Annie, seriously, what was that thing? And how did you two know it's name?" Melody panted.

"Real talk sis, I'll tell you later when we're safe. Just shut up and run!" Annie yelled.

They heard an explosion behind them and looked behind them to see Darren flying out of a building and onto the ground. Flamewar jumped over the building and came down on him. He rolled to the side and threw a spear of metal at her, which bounced off. Flamewar made to shoot him with her crossbow, but felt a rock hit her in the head. She looked down to see Melody standing there.

"Did you just throw a rock at me?" She asked, almost astonished at how futile such a move was.

"Yes." Melody confirmed.

"You know I'm made of metal right?"

"I know. I'm just providing a distraction." She pointed behind Flamewar.

Flamewar turned around just in time to see a long spear of metal shoot through the air and stab itself into her eye. She fell back, clutching her injured optic, growling like an angry animal.

"You little brat!" She snarled. Before she could do anything, a pink blur jumped over the building and she felt a fist slam into her face, sending her crashing into the roller coaster track. Arcee stood in front of Darren, swords ready.

"Don't even think about it." She warned.

Flamewar chuckled, wiping energon leaking from her split lip. "OZ couldn't hold Lugnut, what were the odds those morons could hold onto you?"

She fired her crossbow at Arcee, who dodged and ran forward. Flamewar deployed her left arm blade and blocked the sword strike from her sister. The two femmes fought in a flurry of sparks and lasers that did not hit their target. Darren ran over to his sisters.

"We need to move before the fireworks start." He said. Melody looked at him with wide eyes.

"Who is she?" She squeaked, pointing at Arcee.

"A good friend of ours." Annie said.

Flamewar ducked under Arcee's sword arm and jumped up to kick the pink Autobot away. Then she caught sight of the Radcliffe siblings running down the road and sneered.

"No, you are not getting away from me this time!" Flamewar leapt at the humans at speeds that Arcee was too slow to match.

"Darren, behind you!" Arcee shouted.

Darren turned around to see Flamewar almost on them, and prepared to do something-he had no idea what-to stop her from getting her claws on his family. Thankfully he didn't have to do anything, as the huntress was hit by a missile from behind that sent her sprawling to the ground. Arcee looked up and saw a white jet fly over them.

"Jetfire?" She gaped.

" _Your knight in shining armor is here for ya princess!"_ Jetfire cheered. He fired his cannons at Flamewar, pushing her away from the humans.

Flamewar growled as she tried to shield herself from the assault, the bullets tearing away at her armor. Finally she realized she was outmatched by this fast flyer and, with one last baleful look at Arcee, transformed into her new Terran alt mode and sped away.

Back at the warehouse, Aries had finally lost his temper at seeing another Autobot enter the scene.

"Reinforcements? But how?" He growled. Then he remembered back when they captured Arcee. Just as she went down, he saw Darren touch his watch before trying to attack him. It was only for a few seconds, but long enough for him to press some sort of- "Button. That brat called for help. The clever little bastard."

Knowing that they weren't going to win any consolation prizes tonight, Aries snapped his fingers, and the lights shut off, cloaking him and his men in darkness.

XXXXXXX

It turned out that the watch High Wire gave Darren had come in handy after all. The distress signal it sent out was detected by Comettor, who was with Jetfire flying in the lower stratosphere over Delpoi when they caught his signal. It took a while to pinpoint his location, but once they did they wasted no time in coming to their aid. It was all a matter of being there at the right time.

Arcee stood at the entrance to the warehouse, looking over at the Radcliffe siblings. Darren and Annie were explaining the situation to Melody, who was taking some time to calm down from the craziness that just happened. Jetfire and Comettor left the warehouse and approached her.

"Arcee," Comettor said. "We have some bad news."

She held up a hand. "Let me guess. Without a trace?" They both nodded and she made a frustrated noise. "Of course. As If anything good could happen for us."

Jetfire looked at the humans. "So what are we gonna do about her? you know Prowler is not going to be happy that another native is involved with us."

"I know," Arcee sighed. "But it couldn't be helped. All we can do is let her into our world the same way we did with the others."

She walked over to the siblings, who looked up at her. The twins were grateful, and Melody looked…a bit cautious but not entirely afraid.

"So," Melody said softly. "She's one of those Autobots?"

"Yup." Darren smiled. "Autobot. Guardian. Friend."

"My name is Arcee." The pink Autobot smiled at Melody, getting down on one knee. Melody stood up and smiled at Arcee.

"Hello, Arcee." She said, holding out a hand. Arcee accepted the offer in friendship and shook it in her much larger hand.

"Well, now that we got that out of the way," Annie said. "How about we show you someplace really cool?"

Melody looked at her sister confused. What else can they show her that topped this?

XXXXXXXX

The next day, after resting from their mutual near death experiences, the twins introduced Melody to their Minicon guardians. Like with Arcee, Melody took a liking to them, probably because they didn't tower over her. In fact, she thought they were kind of cute.

Once the introductions were taken care of, Arcee picked them up and, once they were far enough from the town, took them through a ground bridge. Melody almost got sick from the disorienting sensation of taking the ground bridge for the first time, but once her vision stopped spinning she witnessed a glorious sight.

They were inside a large ship, with walls made of a gold alloy more polished than the purest gold on Terra. High tech computers and little gadgets could be found here and there. Melody's mouth hung open as she exited Arcee, who transformed behind her.

But then she saw something more amazing. Giant metal beings, real life aliens, standing before her together like living statues. They were like Arcee, but bigger and more differentiated. She loved how they all looked, but the one that caught her eye was the tall robot in red and blue, who looked the strongest of the bunch.

Darren and Annie stepped up to their sister with matching grins on their faces. "Melody, meet our after school science fiction club. The Autobots."

Optimus Prime knelt down to Melody's level and spoke in his usual deep but gentle tone. "Welcome to the Ark, Melody Radcliffe."

Melody was too chocked to say anything. What do you say to the leader of an alien race that is friends with your younger siblings. The first thing that came to her mind.

"I come in peace."


	19. Polarity

Chapter 19-Polarity

Never in her life had Melody ever thought that things could get weirder than having a younger brother who was an esper. But being inside a giant ship belonging to a team of giant alien robots certainly took the cake. How the children kept all this secret was just baffling.

Gina was giving her a tour of the Ark with her partner Sureshock. Melody was still trying to get used to talking to the tiny human sized robots-Minicons-that predominated an entire wing of the ship. It was odd at how at home her siblings and their friend were with the Autobots, who they had introduced her to the day after that horrible night that she would like to forget.

Optimus Prime, despite being the biggest of the group, was also the most gentle. He reminded her of her father and grandfather, brave and noble as well as kind. Prowl was more stand-offish, a bit hard to get close to, though Annie assured her that he was like that to everyone, even his own teammates. Ironhide was no different, though he was just like that to keep up a tough exterior, on the inside he grew attached to the kids as much as the other Bots. Wheeljack was a very friendly mech who tried not to seem too imposing, granted she was a bit worried after hearing he had a knack for making things go boom.

Bulkhead was the first mech Annie introduced her to, and Melody could see that he was wrapped around the girl's little finger. Bumblebee was another friendly mech who spent most of his time with Gina, acting as her attentive student in Terran history and culture. There was Jazz, the stylish mech who was almost as in love with Terra as Bumblebee. Ratchet, the medic who was like that stern but caring grandfather to the younger occupants and the mech that Gina played assistant and student to. Jetfire, the braggart who never seemed to shut up even in a crisis but had a heart of gold.

Then there was Arcee, the Autobot who saved her family's life. Melody didn't know her for that long, but she would be forever grateful for what she done to rescue her.

Gina had led her to the wing of the ship where the children and Minicons called their own. Melody entered a large room that looked like a community area, with chairs and tables, even a large monitor on the wall next to a computer console. She saw Darren and Kevin sitting and chatting with two other Minicons, though she had no idea where Annie was.

"This is where the magic happens." Gina said. "Here, the Minicons live and work to help the Autobots find the rest of their crew around the world."

"So this is what you've been doing after school." Melody breathed. "Unbelievable."

"Yeah, it's a bit crazy," Annie said as she rolled in on Grindor with ease. "But after a while the shock factor of seeing giant robots fighting wears off and you get used to it."

Melody doubted that, but didn't say anything. But there was something she was concerned about. "Why are you helping them in the first place? All this stuff about Decepticons and murderous terrorist groups," She shook her head. "It's all too dangerous for a bunch of kids."

"To be fair, it was our fault that the Cons are after the Minicons in the first place." Gina said. "We didn't know what we were getting into when we found Sparkplug's team, but it's up to us to at least help save these people. They're not warriors, Melody, just refugees trying to escape a war."

The war. Just when she thought that she put her father's death behind her, it all came rushing back as to why she was so wary of her family being around these Autobots. She lost her father, and by extension her mother, to war and the last thing she wanted was to lose Darren and Annie to a war of this scale.

Arcee appeared in the doorway with Peppercat hanging off her shoulder. "Darren, Kevin, we're heading out."

"Sure thing, Arcee." Darren said as he and Kevin stood up with D-Va. Melody looked at them puzzled.

"Huh? Heading out?" She echoed. "Where are you going?"

"Recon duty." Arcee answered. "The kids help us on some of our missions."

Melody looked apprehensive. "Missions? Darren, don't tell me you get involved with the fighting."

"Hey, lay off Darren," Annie said. "The Bots take us on recon to give them some company. There's nothing dangerous about it."

"And things do get hairy, we can easily end the kids back." Arcee said. Still, Melody wasn't convinced.

"If there's nothing dangerous about it, then why do you need them along? From the looks of it, you have enough company as it is." She said, pointing at the Minicon rolling around on the floor.

"I know, but still. We can't keep the kids locked up in here all day, can we?" Arcee said, trying not to let her growing annoyance show.

Peppercat looked up and poked her finger with of her plug extensions, shocking the girl. Melody jerked her hand back.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"Melody, this is totally different." Darren said as she nursed her finger.

"Oh? In what way? Because you're an esper?" Meoldy asked.

Arcee sighed and stood up with Peppercat in her hands. "Your sister's right, Darren. Since she knows everything, then I think it won't be right to drag you and Kevin along."

Darren stood there gaping as Arcee walked away. He gave his sister an annoyed glare.

"What did I say?" She asked. He grunted and marched out of the room, leaving her alone with the other Minicons and children. When she noticed them looking at her, she growled. "What are you looking at?"

"I am so glad that I'm an only child." Kevin whispered. Gina nodded.

"Amen to that."

Down in the shuttle bay, Arcee marched into the room where Ratchet and Jazz were waiting for her. At Jazz's feet was Road Storm, who was doing whatever he did when people weren't looking his way. Jazz noticed the irritated look on his protégé's face.

"You doing okay, Cee?" He asked. "You look a bit salty."

"I'm fine Jazz. Just fine." She growled. "Now can we get moving, please?"

"Sure thing." Jazz knew well enough to let it go, for now. But before they could move out, Ratchet stopped them.

"Not so fast," He said. He was looking at the Teletran-1 terminal. "Teletran is detecting something strange in the Rocky Mountains."

"How strange?" Arcee asked.

"Strange as in there is a magnetic anomaly that's growing by the second. I know you've got recon but-"

"Don't worry, doc. We get the idea. Just fire up the ground bridge and we'll look into it." Jjazz told him.

Ratchet did as told and the two Autobots transformed. Once the portal appeared, they drove into the ground bridge with their Minicons and disappeared into the vortex.

XXXXXXX

On the Nemesis, the same disturbance was detected by Soundwave, who reported it to Megatron.

"I recognize this anomaly. If it's caused by the weapon I believe it to be, then it's paramount that we get it first." Megatron said. He was about to call for Nightshade, when someone else stepped up to the task.

"Lord Megatron, I wish to retrieve the weapon for you."

Megatron turned around and saw Lugnut kneeling before him. He scowled, remembering how Nightshade had went against his orders in rescuing him. It had sparked a heated argument between them that even now she defends her reasoning for doing so. It probably would've come to blows had Soundwave not been there to stop them.

"Why should I choose you, Lugnut?" Megatron asked. "When you, one of my strongest warriors, was taken down by humans."

"It is because of my loss that I wish to partake in this endeavor alone." Lugnut raised his head, showing the orange prosthetic eye that was in place of the one he lost. "What I have lost, is punishment enough for failing you."

XXXXXXX

The Senca mountain range was a chain of mountains in the northwest that was home to a diverse range of climates. It was home to small snow covered mountains, forests and a large lake that was in the center of the

Lugnut trudged through the rocky canyon where the magnetic disturbance was last detected. He caused the ground to shake with each step of his large feet, and it reflected his grim mood. In front of him, his Mincon partner Search drove along in his vehicle mode with the radar dish on his cab spinning around.

"So," Search began, not really digging the silence. He was used to Lugnut prattling on about Decepticon glory and all that slag, but he hasn't really been himself since that unfortunate encounter with the humans. "How was your day? Mine was great, I tried asking Songbird out and stuff, but she was like 'No, let me brood here in the corner for another solar cycle' but I was like 'Come on girl, you gotta let me get a piece of tha-"

"We did not come here to chat." Lugnut growled. "We came here to retrieve something for lord Megatron. Now shut up and do your job."

"Okay," Search grumbled. He stopped and increased his sensors. "I got a read. It's just over that hill."

Lugnut nodded and climbed over a pile of boulders in front of him. He slid down into a little canyon and pulled out his mace. Search transformed and pointed at a certain spot in the hill before him. The Minicon ran to the sides as the Con began pounding away at the stone with his weapon, sending rocks and dirt flying everywhere. It wasn't long until Lugnut managed to uncover his discovery.

It was a gauntlet of some kind, like an unfinished handle to a much larger weapon with two buttons on the sides of the hand guard. Lugnut reached down to pick it up and study it.

"What is that thing?" Search asked.

"I…do not know." Lugnut answered.

"You shouldn't play aound with things you're too stupid to understand." A cocky voice taunted him.

Lugnut spun around, deploying his shoulder cannon. He saw no one around the canyon, but he could feel eyes following his every move. He heard some rocks shift behind him and he looked up on the rocky slope to see Flamewar grinning down at him.

"Hello there!"

Flamewar jumped down and kicked Lugnut in the face, knocking him back and making him loose his grip on the gauntlet. She ran forward and caught the weapon, looking it over with a keen eye.

"This looks expensive." She noted. "I wonder what it does."

Lugnut came at her from behind and knocked her to the ground with a swipe of his mace. Flamewar went falling to the ground but managed to keep a hold on the gauntlet. The two Cons faced each other.

"I have heard of a rogue Con roaming this land." Lugnut said. "I shall defeat you and bring you battered form to lord Megatron to show my worthiness of his honor."

"Oh shut up." Flamewar snorted.

Lugnut roared and charged at her with his mace raised. Flamewar grinned and leapt at him with her arm blades sharpened. Search stood back and watched the fireworks go off. This was going to be fun to watch.

XXXXXXXXX

Jazz and Arcee walked through the rocky crags towards their destination. Neither Bot had said anything, and the silence was getting a bit too much for Road Storm to handle. He needed something to distract him from Peppercat's constant jittering. No sane femme would be acting like they chugged down two gallons of Engex and still form coherent thoughts.

"You gonna tell me what has you in a tizzy?" Jazz asked. "Or are you going to stew in your anger for the rest of the mission?" When Arcee didn't say anything, he continued. "Cee, what did I tell you about anger?"

"It clouds you thoughts and makes you do stupid things that you wouldn't normally do." She said.

"And it's certainly not going to help you on this mission. So you might as well tell me what's going on." Jazz said. Arcee stayed quiet before sighing.

"It's Melody. I know she's worried about Annie and Darren, with good reason, but she's just so…suffocating." Arcee said. "I mean, Darren and I do recon all the time and she thinks I'm taking him into a fragging warzone."

"Well, everything we touch does have a habit of exploding." Jazz whistled. She ignored him and continued on her triade.

"I've been protecting them before she even had a clue what was going on. Suddenly she wakes up and I'm not good enough."

"Cee," Jazz stopped her with a hand to the shoulder. "What was one of the first things I taught you back at Yoketron's dojo?"

"Don't let anger cloud your thoughts. Use words instead of fists." Arcee said.

It was one of the things he taught her back when she was all alone on Cybertron. Don't let anger take over, take a moment to stop and think before doing or saying something you're going to regret. Let your actions speak instead of angry words.

"Exactly. If this bothers you so much, then just talk to her. Make an effort to speak about your feeling instead of cursing the situation behind her back." He told her. "Ranting about it won't make you any younger. It'll just lead to an early death."

"You're right." Arcee smiled. "Thanks Jazz."

"Anything for my favorite student." Jazz smirked.

"I'm your only student."

"I know."

"Hush." Peppercat said. The Autobots went quiet as the red femme ran forward and hopped on top of a boulder. "I hear noises, loud ones, nya." Her ears wiggled as she pointed down in the cayon. "I see two Cons fighting, nya."

Jazz and Arcee followed the Minicon and looked over the slope to see a rare sight indeed. It was Flamewar and Lugnut, fighting each other with the usual ferocity that was common in all Cons.

The femme was striking the bruiser with quick attacks and shots from her cannon arm, pelting Lugnut's thick armor with grenades that scorched the areas it hit. Lugnut ignored the searing shells burning his armor and swung his mace at her with astounding speed, firing his shoulder cannon whenever she jumped away to get some distance from him.

"Flamewar and Lugnut. What a coincidence." Road Storm said. Arcee narrowed her eyes.

"Yes. I don't know whether it's a blessing or a curse." She said.

Jazz magnified his visor's vision and saw the gauntlet that they were fighting over. Lugnut was holding it, but Flamewar was continually making grabs at it.

"And there's the source of the magnetic disturbance." He said. He turned to Arcee. "You wanna crash the party?"

"Do you have to ask?" She smirked.

Flamewar ducked under Lugnut's mace and kneed him in the chin, knocking him back before punching him in the eye. The bruiser let out a cry in pain as his very sensitive component was engulfed in burning pain that made him fall to his knees. Flamewar smirked and picked up the gauntlet he dropped, attaching it to her hand.

"This is the perfect little gift for myself. I deserve something for all the slag I've bene through." She said.

"What you deserve, is chains traitor!" Lugnut growled. Flamewar rolled her eyes and walked towards him.

"Spare me the scare tactics, Lugnut. I'm no low ranking Autobot rookie who scares easily." She pointed the gauntlet at his face. "Maybe I should give this thing a test run on your face."

"Hell no!" Search drove up and fired his arm cannons at her. Two laser blasts hit Flamewar's hand and knocked the weapon from her grasp.

"You little brat!" She snarled.

It was at this moment that the Autobots decided to intervene. Jazz took Arcee in his arms and threw her into the air as hard as he could. The pink Autobot flew in the air and opened fire on the two Cons with her blaster pistols, forcing them away from each other. Jazz slid down the slope shooting his photon rifle at Lugnut with Road Storm linked to his arm.

The two Autobots landed between the two adversaries, ready to fight. Flamewar glowered at Arcee.

"I wish I could say nice to see you big sis," She hissed. "Bu then I'd be lying."

"Wouldn't be the first time." Arcee said.

"Leave Autobots!" Lugnut shouted. "This does not concern you!"

"Anything that involves you, big guy, is out business." Jazz replied. "Open fire!"

They charged at their dancing partners and attacked. Arcee lunged at Flamewar, shooting her pistols. Flamewar rolled to the side and slashed at Arcee's head with her blades. Arcee grabbed her arm and punched her in the cheek, leaving a cut across her sister's face.

Jazz was keeping his distance from Lugnut, dancing around him with flips and jumps that greatly confused the large one-eyed brute. Lugnut swung his mace every which way in an attempt to hit the Autobot, but couldn't even nick him. Jazz fired his cryo-emitter at Lugnut's lower torso before running in close to punch the frozen armor.

"Ngh! Stand still Autobot!" Lugnut shouted.

"That's not how it works." Jazz laughed.

Lugnut swung his mace one more time, but Jazz grappled it with his hook and wretched it from Lugnut's hands. He swung the mace around in a wide arc before throwing it back at the Con, hitting him right in the face with the blunt end of the weapon. Seeing his partner go down, Search ran to his aid.

"I got ya big gu-AHH!"

Search was thrown to the ground with Peppercat pressing down on his back. He tried to knock her off, but she flipped off him, grabbing his shoulders and throwing him into a rock in one fluid move. He righted himself and fired his arm cannons, but she easily dodged all the blasts and got in close.

He was pelted with lightning fast punches and kicks that he couldn't even follow, before a sharp kick to the head sent him to the ground. The plug extensions on her feet connected his head and pain exploded through his cranium. Search thought that she knocked a screw loose on his head.

Flamewar and Arcee continued their dance of death. Like their previous battles, they were evenly matched, and neither sister was gaining the upper hand. That is, until Flamewar spotted the gauntlet by the Minicons. She smirked at Arcee and back flipped away, jumping into the air and firing a tow line from her wrist that caught the gauntlet and pulled it to her.

"Slag!" Arcee ran at her before she could use the gauntlet.

Flamewar pressed a button and the gauntlet powered up, forming an energy globe around her hand. She pointed it at Peppercat and Search, and it sent out a magnetic wave that snagged the Minicons in its grasp, lifting them off the ground.

Seeing Arcee running at her, Flamewar angled the Minicons in front of her and changed the dial on the gauntlet so that it sent out a magnetic wave in the Autobot's direction. Arcee grunted as the two Minicons hit her in the chest followed by a powerful magnetic wave that sent her crashing into the canyon walls.

"Cee!" Jazz ran at Flamewar, firing his cryo blaster. She dodged the nitrogen blasts and used the gauntlet to catch him the moment he leapt at her.

"I'm getting sick of your little acrobatic routine." Flamewar said. "Maybe you should sit still for a while."

Flamewar threw Jazz into a pile of boulders and caused a rockslide that buried him under the heavy rocks. She twirled the gauntlet on her finger, marveling at how powerful it was. As much as she wanted to finish the job, it was best that she move it before something else ruins her good mood. She transformed and sped out of the canyon, not noticing Lugnut wake up from his little nap.

XXXXXXXX

It took her a while to find Darren but thanks to High Wire's help, Melody managed to navigate the vast halls of the Ark and locate her brother in Wheeljack's workshop. The boy was working with Rollbar and Liftor on some large device that looked like a power generator of some kind. She cleared her throat and all three tinkerers looked at her.

"Hey," Melody smiled. "Can I borrow Darren for a little while?"

"Well," Rollbar said. "We're kinda busy here building this new generator for the Ark and Darren's helping us move the heav-ow!"

Liftor, who just whacked Rollbar upside his head, nodded at Darren. "Go ahead, Darren. We can wait for you."

Darren sighed and left the room with his sister, leaving the two Minicons to start arguing in hushed whispers. He gave them ten minutes before something exploded.

The two siblings walked down the hall at a slow pace, neither really saying anything. Melody glanced at her brother, and took a deep breath.

"Have I said anything wrong?" She asked. "I mean, did I offend the Autobots or something? I hope I didn't. I was just saying that they could do all that stuff alone since they're, you know…giant robots."

"They're not robots, Mel." Darren said. "And no you didn't offend Arcee. I think. But just because they're big and powerful doesn't mean that they don't need our help. Annie, Gina and I helped the Bot locate and rescue nearly a dozen Minicons since we met them. We're actually helping people. Not to mention that I've gotten better with my powers."

Melody did notice that Darren was more skilled with his powers. He moved things more easily and with astounding speed. He pulled off a thin strip of metal from the floor panels and floated it in front of him, splitting the metal into even tinier strips like it was plastic. Melody looked on in awe at how fluid he was now compared to the violent, uncontrolled blustering he was doing months before.

"I know Darren, but did you forget about that girl-"

"Femme."

"Whatever!" She sighed. "We were almost killed by that Con who was trying to get back at Arcee. I know you love these Autobots, but I don't want you or Annie getting hurt for something that one of them did."

Darren decided to refrain from telling her about the many near death experiences that he and the girls had over the past few months and tried another approach. "But they have done a good job keeping us safe. The Autobots have our safety in the forefront of their minds all the time. Anything that happens to us is our fault."

He placed a hand on Melody's shoulder. "You should trust them more. There is no place safer than with the Autobots."

Melody looked her brother in the eyes and saw how serious he was. He was certainly different from that boy who was uncertain and shy all the time. Working with the Autobots certainly helped with his self confidence.

"Okay then. Since you're so insistent that the Autobots can take care of you, then I'll take your word for it. But that doesn't mean I won't dote over you and Annie. You are my baby siblings after all." Melody smiled.

Darren hugged his sister. "That's all I ask for, Mel."

After a minute, Melody made an apologetic noise. "I suppose I should also apologize to Arcee. She looked a bit miffed earlier."

"That would be wise. Granted she doesn't hold a grudge."

They flinched when they heard an explosion come from the workshop, followed by shouting from Rollbar and Liftor. Darren shook his head. It took them eleven minutes to explode. A new record.

XXXXXXX

Jazz pushed the rocks off him with a grunt and crawled out of the pile with Road Storm in his hands. "You okay there, little dude?"

"Yeah. Got dust in my gears, but it's cool." Road Storm shrugged.

Jazz pulled his leg free and stood up. "Cee! You alright? Sound off!"

"I'm fine Jazz!" Arcee called out. "But I have a bit of a situation."

Jazz ran over to where he saw Arcee sitting on the ground with a frown on her face. He was about to ask what she was doing when he saw the reason she was cross. Peppercat and Search were attached to her legs, their backs held to her thighs by some invisible force.

"Well you don't see that every day." Road Storm commented.

"How did this happen?" Jazz asked as he helped Arcee up.

"I was hit by the Minicons when Flamewar hit me with that damn gauntlet. Now I can't pull them loose." She said. Peppercat was trying to wriggle herself free, while Search just hung there limp like a ragdoll.

"This certainly counts as one of more embarrassing moments of my life." He said dryly.

"I suggest we kill the interloper before he calls for help, nya." Peppercat hissed.

"Whoa hold on there. I'm a victim here. I can't really do anything to you that won't get me slagged as well." Seach said.

Arcee sighed and called Ratchet for help. She explained the situation to him, as well as the weapon that done it.

" _A polarity gauntlet."_ Ratchet said. " _A deceptively simple but diabolical weapon. It manipulates natural magnetic forces in the atmosphere and between objects. Considering that we're made of metal, it can prove to be a dangerous weapon to us."_

"So how can Pepper and Search be stuck to Arcee like this?" Road Storm asked. All this stuff was going over his head.

" _The gauntlet must have increased the magnetic forces between your bodies when you collided with each other. It could probably wear off on its own, but I'd rather have the weapon that caused this reverse the effects."_

"Easier said than done, doc. The gauntlet, and Flamewar, are both long gone." Jazz said.

" _I can still track the gauntlet's readings. It's not too far from your position, but you better hurry."_

Search groaned. "If only Lugnut were here. He'd be strong enough to pull me free." He looked around. "Hey. Where is Lugnut?"

XXXXXXXX

Flamewar drove down the dirt path that weaved through the mountains. On one of her handlebars was the polarity gauntlet. She wanted to get as far away from those meddling Autobots and the dumb Con as possible lest she lose her new toy.

'With this on hand, I won't have to worry about either Bots or Cons.' Flamewar thought happily.

Sadly her glee was replaced with surprise as a large dark green and black bomber plane, flew in low over her. She skidded to a stop as the large aircraft zoomed past her and reconfigured into Lugnut. Without a word, Lugnut took out hid mace and swung it at the still transformed Flamewar, hitting her and sent her flying through the air into a steep gravel slope. The blow forced her back into robot mode and the gauntlet went falling into a pond.

"Time for round two!" Lugnut advanced upon the huntress, intent on turning her small body into scrap. Flamewar rolled out of the way of another hammer strike and fired a shell from her arm cannon. She was surprised to see Lugnut dodge it. "I know all of your tricks, witch! You will not fool me!"

"Then how about this?" Flamewar jumped back and fired a net from her wrist. The net wrapped around Lugnut's face, blinding him and trapping his mouth shut. He fumbled around trying to pull it off, but this was a special batch of netting that was meant for more slippery prey. "How's that for a hat trick?"

Not too far from their location, Jazz ran across the rocky terrain. He used the scanner to pinpoint the gauntlet's location and saw that he was getting very close to it. It seems that Lugnut didn't get it yet, or else he would've flown off with it by now.

"Stop right there Autobot!"

Jazz froze and turned to see Flamewar standing on top of a small hill. Behind her, Lugnut was still trying to get the netting off his face. She slowly advanced on him, with the polarity gauntlet pointed at him.

"Disengage you Minicon, or I turn you into a life sized energon cube!" She ordered. Jazz smirked and dropped Road Storm from his arm.

"What are you doing?" Road Storm asked through their internal comm.

"Trust me." Was all Jazz said to him.

"Good. Now raise your hands in the air and turn around. I don't want you trying anything funny."

"Funny. That's what all my friends say when I invite them over for happy hour." Jazz said. He raised his hands, then snapped his fingers.

Arcee ran over the hill and rammed her shoulder into Flamewar's back, violently jostling the Minicons on her legs. The gauntlet fell out of Flamewar's grasp and onto the ground, where the impact activated it. In an instant, all the bots in the vicinity found themselves being drawn towards the guantlet's surprising powerful magnetic pull, one that was almost as strong as the pull of a planet's gravity well. They each tried to resist its pull, but the uneven ground of their surroundings made it hard for them to do that.

Jazz used his grappling hook to hold him to the ground, and Arcee stabbed her swords into the ground to do the same. Flamewar only had her hands to help her, and she dug her claws into the ground to slow herself. Only Lugnut was in free-fall, still trying to get the netting off his face. When he finally pulled the net off, he fell forward onto his stomach as he inched closer to the gauntlet. When he was close enough Lugnut grabbed the weapon and pressed the button to stop it.

"That's better." Jazz said. Road Storm powerlinked with him, but he didn't shift his arm into his cryo blaster just yet. He faced off against Lugnut, while Arcee faced her sister, who looked at her current appearance with no small amount of amusement.

"How did-"

"Don't talk about it. Just fight!" Arcee growled. This was certainly embarrassing.

"Lugnut! Help me!" Search yelled. "They have me prisoner and are threatening to toture me if I don't stop talking!"

"Shut up, nya!" Peppercat hissed.

"See what I mean?"

Lugnut said nothing but he planned to get his Minicon back from the clutches of those accursed Autobots. With his mace in one hand and the polarity gauntlet in another, he beckoned Jazz to come at him.

And so round two of this three way battle began. Jazz and Arcee charged at their opponents in tandem. Jazz flipped through the air and fired his photon rifle at Lugnut. Lugnut roared and charge at the Saboteur, swinging his mace. Jazz ducked and dodged around the large weapon and did a spin kick that knocked Lugnut off balance. The brute took those hits with ease, but he could not deal any damage to the agile mech himself.

Arcee and Flamewar did battle as they always did, but Arcee was slowed down by the added weight of her passengers. Flamewar swept her feet from under her and she fell on her right side, the side Peppercat was on. She had to stop her fall awkwardly to keep from crushing the femme, but Flamewar aimed a kick at her unprotected left side. The blow mostly hit Search instead, who cursed at her in response.

"You're moving a little slow there sis." FLmaewar smirked. "Did you gain some weight?"

"Don't even go there!" Arcee said.

She lashed out with a punch to the face, but Flamewar spun around and kicked at Peppercat. Her leg hit the Minicon, but she grabbed onto her leg and delivered a painful shock through her fingers and into the captured limb. Flamewar jumped back with a shock and was surprised to see that her leg had gone numb.

"Good job Peppercat." Arcee praised. Peppercat smiled with her eyes.

"Anytime, nya."

Jazz and Lugnut were still fighting, though it was mostly a more violent version of keep away. The cyber-ninja was trying to grab at the gauntlet, but Lugnut was keeping him at arm's length. He tried hitting Jazz with the butt of his mace, but Jazz leaned back and kicked it out of his hands. He elbowed Lugnut in the head, but was caught off guard when Lugnut grabbed him by the waist and threw him away.

Lugnut activated the gauntlet and used it on his mace, lifting it up into the air and throwing it at Jazz. The mace hit Jazz in the chest and sent him flying through the air, hitting Arcee in the back and sending both Autobots crashing to the ground. Flamewar looked at Lugnut, only to dodge a missile he shot at her.

"I have had enough of you!" Lugnut said. He ran at Flamewar but stopped when he heard Search let out a happy cry.

"Hey! I'm free!" He cheered. He was covered in dirt and dents, but he was free from his bond with Arcee, as was Peppercat. "Praise the Allspark!"

"Shut up and link up with me, Search!" Lugnut yelled.

"Okay, okay, no need to be testy." Search transformed and drove up to Lugnut, leaping up and powerlinking to his arm.

Lugnut glared at Flamewar as his arm transformed into a pressure pad. One press of the button and he could level nearly a mile of the area around him in one massive gravity wave. Bots and rogues alike wouldn't stand a chance. Wanting to get this farce over with, Lugnut raised his arm to let his loose the power of his strongest weapon.

"Not so fast, nya!"

Peppercat leapt up and kicked the big red button at the center of the pressure pad. Lugnut only had enough time to curse before he was engulfed in an explosion that echoed throughout the area with a resounding boom. The Con fell out of the cloud of smoke and into the lake with a large splash.

"You go girl." Jazz praised the Minicon. He eyed the polarity gauntlet that sat on the ground next to him and reached for it, only for Flamewar to snatch it up with her own grappling line.

"See you all in hell!" She jeered and transformed. She drove down the mountain slope until she was at ground level, where she gained some speed. It looked like she was going to get away. But Arcee was not one to quit.

"Peppercat!" She called out. Peppercat switched to beast mode, a large red cat the size of a cheetah, and attached herself to Arcee's right thigh.

Arcee felt a surge of power course through her body and acted on it. She ran forward at speeds much faster than her usual speed, catching up to Flamewar's alt mode I record breaking time. Leaping forward, she grabbed the back of Flamewar's alt mode and dug her feet into the ground, spinning the huntress around three times before throwing her at Jazz.

The momentum carried Flamewar the distance she just drove across and she transformed in mid-spin. Unfortunately, she did so just in time for her face to meet the back of Jazz's heel as he spin kicked her over to the lake. Lugnut was just swimming back to the surface when Flamewar went flying at him.

"Scrap." Lugnut said as she crashed into his head and they both went into the lake again.

Jazz whistled in appreciation at the awesome finisher as Arcee jogged over to him with the polarity gauntlet in hand. Peppercat disengaged from the pink Autobot and climbed to her shoulder.

"You did good, Peppercat." Arcee smiled.

"I did good to, you know. But don't mind me." Road Storm grumbled. Jazz chuckled and looked at the gauntlet.

"Let's get back to base before that thing gets us stuck together or something." He said. Arcee nodded, but Peppercat looked over at the lake.

"What about them, nya?" She asked.

"What about them?" Arcee sighed. She honestly didn't care anymore. They got what they came here for. And that was it. "Let Lugnut deal with their loose dog."

With that they walked away from the lake, calling for a ground bridge. All in all, it was a good day for them, despite how unpleasant it was. And it was about to get even better.

XXXXXXXX

In the Ark's shuttle bay, Jazz and Arcee handed Ratchet the gauntlet.

"One polarity gauntlet for the vault." Arcee smiled. "Though I wouldn't advise indoor use."

"Arcee?" Melody stepped up to the pink femme. Seeing that she wanted to talk, Arcee knelt down while Jazz dragged Ratchet away for a little privacy.

"What's wrong, Melody?"

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry for offending you earlier. I know that you are fully capable of protecting the kids, it's just that," Melody took a deep breath. "After our parents died, and then grandpa leaving us to, I've been a little possessive. Darren and Annie are the only family I have left, and I'm constantly scared that I'm going to lose them as well. It's hard, considering that they're growing up so fast, and with how much of a hassle Annie is-"

"Melody," Arcee cut in. "It's fine, I know how you feel. You lose something the first time and it makes it all the more harder to let things go. And I promise-we all promise-to keep you and your family safe."

Melody and Arcee smiled at each other, fully understanding one another. Jazz looked on from the doorway and smile as well. Perhaps getting stranded on Terra wasn't such an unfortunate curse after all.

XXXXXXX

Megatron was not happy. Not at all. He had given Lugnut a simple task to complete, one that shouldn't be a problem for a mech of his size and power, but here he stood. Alone and bruised with nothing to show for his efforts. Must he be constantly disappointed by his own men?

"You have a lot of bearings coming here after failing your mission." Megatron growled. When Lugnut said nothing, he stepped up to the Con. "You dare return to me empty handed?"

"No, my liege." Lugnut said and looked behind him. "I do not dare."

He stepped aside to show Blackout dragging the cuffed Flamewar in his clutches. He pushed her at Megatron's feet. The warlord looked down at her in amusement.

"Flamewar. It's been a long time." He said. Flamewar looked up at him with no small amount of loathing.

"Not long enough, lord Megatron."


	20. The Red Pyramid

Chapter 20-The Red Pyramid

Thundercracker flew over the twisting sands of the Elmia desert, the sun beating down on his metal hide and making him feel like a lightning rod that's just been superheated by a bolt during a thunderstorm. He groaned at the uncomfortable feeling and hoped that he didn't have to worry about overheating in this hellish sandbox.

Terra had to be in his list of the top five worst planets he had served on in his career. There was that one planet with the living explosions whose name he forgot because he was sent into a coma after spending one day on that fiery rock, that planet with the exploding crystals, the world that was home to a race that piloted robot lions as their main defense force (he forgot how many times he had his wings ripped off in that campaign), but the worst one had to be the planet of green skinned giants. He was mistaken for a toy by one of the natives and held prisoner in the child's room for three weeks before anyone had the brass balls to go rescue him. Slipstream never let him live that travesty down.

Seeing Blackout standing on a sand dune, Thundercracker transformed and made a show to blow some sand in the mech's face as he landed. He grinned as Blackout sputtered to get the sand from his mouth and eyes.

"Very funny, you slaghead." Blackout grumbled. "Did you find anything?"

"Nope," Thundercracker said. "There's too much ground to cover without some location to use as a reference. It's easy to get lost out here, wings or not."

"All the same, we're going to have to wait for the panel to react again." Blackout sighed. "Join up with lord Megatron. I'll take it from here."

Blackout transformed into his helicopter mode and rose into the air. The strong winds caused by his blades, blew sand everywhere, mostly in Thundercracker's direction. The Seeker cursed as sand got in his joints and servos. Blackout let out a deep laugh as he flew away into the distance.

"Damn it," Thundercracker growled. "Walked right into that one."

XXXXXXXXXX

Gina let out a sigh as she looked through her binoculars at the heat waves in the distance. Sand, nothing but sand. And the occasional scorpion, that she filed away as flee on sight. She was dressed in a thin shirt that clung to her developing frame due to the sweat that was pouring off her, and a pair of jean shorts. Darren and Annie were dressed in similar attire to combat the desert heat, but it was a losing battle.

"Now I remember why I never wanted to go to Egyptia," Gina panted. "I forgot that this place was hell on Terra."

"How can you forget something like that?" Annie asked as she wringed her shirt to air herself out. "This whole damn sandbox is the reason Libya is so famous."

A large shadow covered the kids and they looked up to see Centurion standing over them, providing them shade.

"How's this?" He asked.

"It's great, thanks Centurion." Darren said. He was sweating buckets and his clothes looked like they took a dip in a pond.

Optimus and Ironhide stood apart from the others, looking over the desert from the vantage point of a nearby dune. The Autobots and the kids were on another Minicon retrieval mission, this one to one of the hottest countries in the world-Egyptia. After hearing how harsh the conditions were in Libya, Optimus obviously didn't want to put them at risk of health issues, but the kids insisted they come. They were still guilty that they lost the last one to the Cons and wanted to make up for it.

So here they were, with the combined Centurion, D-Va and Tracer. Their custom made covert retrieval team. Annie's little name for their team-ups with the Minicons. Prowl objected to the idea of course, seeing as he was still looking into the spy issue, but now he was strangely quiet on the matter all of a sudden. Optimus didn't know what was going on with Prowl, the mech liked to keep secrets out of personal security, so he could observe and analyze things without any distractions. He treated everything like it was a crime scene waiting to happen. But right now he had more pressing concerns.

The problem about their current circumstances was that they had no idea where to go. The panel's signal was faint and barely registered in their scanners. Which meant that the panel was most likely underground. If that was true, then they were in trouble.

"Has Wheeljack found anything yet?" Optimus asked.

"No, Prime. The most we got is that we're in the general vicinity." Ironhide said. He crossed his arms and frowned. "And have I mentioned that I don't like waiting around here for that Jetfire to give us an update? This place is too open and we're defenseless if the Cons try to ambush us."

"It's a desert, Ironhide. The whole place is wide open space." Prowl said. "If it bothers you so much then try to think of an alternative solution instead of complaining about the circumstances."

Ironhide growled, but Optimus raised his hand to stop a potential argument. This was not the time or place to start fighting amongst themselves. Out here in the desert, overheating was a very real danger, and the Autobots had to lower their chances of debilitating themselves by avoiding doing any unnecessary actions-namely trying to beat each other senseless.

Jetfire had gone on ahead with Comettor in order to do a grid scan of the desert from the air. It was the most efficient way of finding the panel in such a large area, where one could get turned around easily with one wrong move. Many of the Autobots were hoping the panel was someplace accessible. If the panel was buried beneath a sand dune, then they had a problem on their hands.

Ironhide was still wary of Jetfire, given his history as a high ranking Seeker, but Optimus stamped that suspicion down immediately. It was bad enough the Prowl was treating the Minicons like prisoners under house arrest, but treating one another like spies or traitors will not be tolerated on his team. Cooperation was a necessity that they could not take for granted, and if that falls apart then the whole operation on Terra was lost.

Optimus looked over at the kids, who were conversing with the Minicons. He hoped that they could handle the heat a little longer. They conditions in the Elmia desert were strong enough to prove hazardous to a fully grown adult human, and a child even more so.

"I see him!" Tracer said, pointing at the sky.

The Autobots looked up and saw Jetfire's white form streaking through the sky like a bullet. The flyer reached them within seconds and transformed to robot mode, kicking sand everywhere in his descent.

"Watch it!" Annie yelled.

"Sorry." Jetfire apologized. Though he had no mouth, they could tell he was smiling in his voice.

"What did you learn, Jetfire?" Optimus asked.

"Well, I got good news and bad news." Jetfire said. "What do you want first?"

"Jetfire, just tell us." Prowl sighed.

"Good news it is. Well, I've found the panel. The signal was coming from inside this huge valley with the weird markings and pictures along the walls.

"That's the Valley of the Kings." Gina said. "It's the largest tomb in Egyptia that used to be a resting place for many Pharoahs from the eighteenth to twentieth dynasties. "

"And since it's a resting place for kings," Darren said. "Then it must hold some treasure and valuables belonging to those ancient kings."

"Which might also hold the panel." Annie smiled. "Sweet, we're on the right track."

"What's the bad news?" D-Va asked. She filed this information for later.

Comettor dropped off Jetfire's wing and fell into a sand dune. The flyer helped his partner up as he explained the little setback they had. "It's really far from our position. About north-northeast on the east bank of the Nile. And I think there are humans there to."

"I don't think we have to worry about that." Gina said. "Sure the Valley of the Kings is a popular tourist destination, but less and less people have been visiting the area since that massacre of tourists and guides back in 1971."

"Damn." Annie muttered. How did that happen?

"We don't have to worry about the tourists but most of the tombs are still closed to the public for archaeological digs. I'm sure that security is lax around this time of year with all the sandstorms that have been ravaging the area." She continued. "All the same, we should be careful."

"Agreed." Optimus nodded. "Jetfire, give Ratchet the coordinates of the panel's signal. We will take a ground bridge to the Valley of the Kings."

"If there are humans there, Optimus," Prowl said. "What should we do?"

"I'll think of a plan if it comes to that."

While they were occupied, D-Va stood apart from the others. She was whispering through her comm.-link on a private channel that none of her friends knew existed.

" _I hope you're hearing this. The Valley of the Kings, north by northeast. Possible human presence in the area, so proceed with caution. Agent XII out."_

"That's my girl." Leader-1 said and looked up at Megatron. "We've got a bite. The Autobots are moving out."

"Excellent." Megatron grinned. He turned to the Seekers. "It's time to move out. Starscream, your team will hang back until the Autobots have some within range."

"At once, Megatron." Starscream bowed.

"Blackout, you're with me. You job is the most important on this mission."

"I understand, my lord." Blackout said.

Megatron looked back at the huge expanse of desert before him and wondered if this is what the world will look like when he was finished sucking every last bit of energy from its core.

XXXXXXXX

The Valley of the Kings was one of the most famous places in Egyptia. Here tombs of Pharoahs who ruled from the eighteenth to twentieth dynasties were located, untouched for thousands of years until they were robbed by treasure hunters in the 1800s and later roped off for archaeological digs. It was a gold mine of historical treasures and information on the ancient Amara kingdom that ruled the land from Egyptia to Nubia.

The Autobots stepped out of the ground bridge and into a large valley that looked like it consisted partly of sand and rock. The canyon walls were small and weathered from the constant pounding of sand against its rocky surface, and there were tracks in the ground where the humans had once been.

"It looks like everyone hauled ass already." Annie noted.

Tracer shielded her face from the sand as she looked around. "It's really windy around here, isn't it?"

"That's because there's a sand storm coming. It's peaceful now, but give it some time and we'll all be getting a face full of sand and dirt." Gina said.

"Then we can't waste any more time." Optimus said. He looked down at the Minicons. "Escort the children into the tomb. We will stand guard out here and-"

A purple plasma beam hit Optimus in the shoulder, knocking him off his feet and sending him crashing into a canyon wall. Jetfire and Prowl drew their weapons as Ironhide ran over to him.

"Prime! Are you alright?" He asked. Optimus grunted as he stood u, his shoulder sparkling but still intact.

"I'm fine. But where did that blast come from?"

Prowl looked out at the desert where the blast came from. He saw nothing, but was forced to duck when another blast shot his way. The blast hit the side of the canyon in a shower of rocks and sand.

"We're under attack!" Ironhide shouted and ran forward. He primed his cannons and looked around "Where are they?"

"Out of our range." Prowl grunted. "Megatron is taking pot shots at us."

Optimus looked at the kids and Minicons. "Go, now!"

Centurion nodded and grabbed Darren and Annie before running towards one of the openings to the tombs. Optimus, Ironhide and Prowl formed a line near the entrance to the valley.

"No one gets in without us noticing," Optimus said. "Hold this line no matter what!"

Prowl spotted three shapes coming in fast from the north. Looking closer, he saw that they were jets. "We got Seeker incoming."

"On it!" Jetfire transformed and took to the air, already about a mile from the Autobots in seconds.

Starscream spotted Jetfire heading towards them. "Skywarp, you're up!"

"Got it." The grin could be heard in Skywarp's face as he disappeared from view.

The moment Jetfire saw Skywarp vanish, he immediately got to work on locating any spatial disturbances in his immediate vicinity. Having worked with Skywarp for a long time, he knew a little trick to locating the Seeker. Every time Skywarp teleports, the air around him shimmers as he disappears and reappears, followed by a light energy surge. Jetfire had trained himself to instinctively locate those surges when fighting Skywarp and it came in handy as the Outlier appeared behind him.

"Got ya!" Jetfire transformed and spun around, firing his particle cannon at Skywarp just as he appeared.

"Gah!" Skywarp got right in his left wing and was sent spiraling out of control. As Skywaro transformed in order to keep himself from crashing, Jetfire turned his attention to the other two Seekers.

"Hey Screamer," Jetfire flew up to Starscream and Thundercracker. "You miss me?"

"Shut up!"

The three flyers got into a two on three dog fight in the sky that turned into all kinds of chaos. From his vantage point on the ground, Megatron shook his head at the display. They outnumbered him three to one, and yet Jetfire was shooting them out of the sky like shooting fish in a barrel.

"To think Starscream brags about being a Seeker." He muttered.

" _Lord Megtron,"_ Blackout said through the comm. channel. " _I'm in position with Leader-1 and Zapmaster."_

"Good," Megatron smirked. "Drop them off then return to my position. We're going to give them hell."

XXXXXXXXX

When they tracked the panel to the side of the canyon, the kids thought that they were going to enter one of the tombs. Of course their expectations were exceeded when they found a secret passage near one of the tombs in the east end of the valley. At this point they weren't surprised at anything like this anymore.

Once the fireworks started, they quickly entered the corridor and found themselves going down a large staircase that went for almost a mile downward into the earth. Gina led the way along with D-Va close behind. Sky Spy was scanning the path in front of them and so far they were on the right track.

"Are we getting close yet?" Annie asked.

"Yes, but it's still a long way from our position." Gina said.

Darren heard a loud explosion from above ground. "Let's get a move on before the Autobots get scrapped. It sounds like a warzone out there."

"Well it is a war." D-Va muttered.

They exited the staircase and found themselves standing inside a large chamber. It was large and wide, about half the size of the school gymnasium. There were hieroglyphs lining was walls, which looked like they were made of gold, and large shards of hephaestium were mounted in the corners, providing a decent amount of light. The small group walked deeper into the room, looking around in awe.

"This place looks amazing." Gina breathed. They just discovered something that none of the past archaeologists who visited the valley even had a clue about. "I am so hype right now."

She walked forward to inspect the walls, but Darren stopped her. "Don't drift off on us now, Gina. We have a job to do."

"Yeah," She sighed. "I know."

Centurion pointed to the corridor at the other side of the chamber. "We must go."

They walked towards the other entrance on the other side, but just as they passed the center of the chamber, the room began to shake like an earthquake was happening.

"What now!" D-Va groaned.

The ceiling opened up above them and a large metal ball fell from the opening. Centurion pushed the kids forward and jumped back to avoid the ball that crashed between them. It was large, made of gold with a large stylized eye sitting in the middle of the sphere on both sides. Four slits opened up on the sphere and Centurion didn't hold back a groan as he saw four large and very sharp blades extend from the slits, stabbing into the ground and lifting itself up.

"Run! Get the panel!" Centurion yelled.

"But what about you?" Annie yelled.

"I will be with you soon. Just go!"

D-Va, not wanting to get caught up in fighting a giant ball with bade legs, pulled the kids along, down the corridor. Once he saw them leave, Centurion fired his wrist cannons at the Golem to get its attention. The eye on its body glowed red and it charged at the gestalt with shocking speed.

Centurion jumped to the side, but was hit by one of the blade legs that it sent at him. He barely avoided getting bisected, but the sphere side stepped sharply and rammed into him. He crashed to the ground and rolled to the side to avoid a downward strike that sliced a cut in his side.

The sphere lashed out at him with blindingly fast strikes, attacking him with its two front legs. Centurion dodged as fast as he could and tried to gain some distance from it, but the Golem chased him down wherever he went. He couldn't keep this up for long.

'Time to improvise.' Centurion thought.

Channeling Grindor's on the fly thinking, Centurion stood in place and waited for the machine to get near him. Once it was close enough, the Golem sent one of its legs shooting at him. Centurion waited until the last possible second before leaning to the side, just enough that the blade only nicked off a piece of his Grindor component. He wrapped his arms around the leg and pulled himself onto it. With a mighty chop, he severed the blade from the joint and it fell to the ground.

He lifted the large blade and jumped at the Golem, jamming it into its eye. The blade easily sunk into its armor and damaged its inner mechanisms, making it wobble unsteadily before it crashed to the ground. Centurion looked at it, venting air to cool his systems down.

"That thing won't be bothering anyone else." He said. then he heard a voice behind him.

"And for that, we thank you."

A beam of energy hit Centurion in the back and the gestalt felt hi entire body freeze. He felt his limbs seize up and fell to the ground, frozen but still conscious. From the shadows, Leader-1 and Zapmaster walked up to the fallen gestalt, the former carrying a triple barreled beam cannon.

"Oh how the mighty have fallen." Leader-1 sneered and kicked Centurion. "Don't worry. The effects will wear off soon, but by the time that happens, you human pets will be bloody smears on the walls."

They stepped over Centurion's body and continued on their way towards the hall, leaving him alone in the dark room.

XXXXXXXX

Optimus and Ironhide ducked under three missiles that were fired in their direction. Blackout was approaching them from the rear, laying down heavy fire just out of their range. Jetfire was still fighting the Seekers, and Megatron was quickly closing in on them in his tank mode.

"We're surrounded, Prime." Ironhide said. "Megatron's going to be on us in seconds and Blackout has us pinned."

"Leave Blackout to me. But can you hold Megatron off for just a little while?" Optimus asked.

"Define a little while." Prowl said, but did as he was told. He and Ironhide began firing at Megatron, missing some of their shots but managing to hit him as he got closer. But their attacks did little to slow the warlord down, as average blaster fire and missiles did little to damage his dense armor.

Optimus ran over to the side of the valley and climb the short distance to the top. Once on the cliff, he ran along the edge, getting closer to Blackout's position. He pulled out his ion cannon and fired a blast at the Con's rear rotors, hitting it dead center. Blackout grunted and tried not to spin out of control as he lost his balance, but then another complication hit him.

Optimus had jumped off the canyon wall and grabbed onto Blackout. The added weight caused him to spin around in the air, trying to maintain his altitude. They both descended to the ground in a spiral and Optimus jumped off just as Blackout crashed into the sand. The Con rolled along the ground before he transformed and landed on his knees.

Prowl began shooting at Blackout with his rifle, blasting pieces of the Con's armor off with each direct hit. Blackout grunted in pain as the blasts hit his body. Despite his size, he wasn't that heavily armored, and he was in serious danger of getting hit in someplace vital. When Optimus began shooting at him to, and almost catching him in the head, Blackout knew that he had to act now.

"Cannon, deploy!"

A compartment on his lower back opened up and his Minicon partner, Cannon dropped to the ground. He was in his alt mode, a green and blue panzer tank, and was silent as he powerlinked to the underside of Blackout's right forearm. On top of his arm, a cannon extended from his body. Blackout pointed the cannon and fired.

He fired a single blast that hit the ground and exploded in a wall of noise that shot towards Optimus. Not expecting the attack, Optimus was hit full force by the sonic wave and was knocked into a statue as his systems were assaulted by a debilitating EMP surge that scrambled his visual and auditory sensors. He stumbled a bit as he tried to reboot his systems on the fly. Then he heard a high pitched sound to his right and jumped to the side just as Blackout fired another thunderclap wave.

Blackout powered up his blaster once more, planning on shutting down the Prime once and for all. The thunderclap blaster was supposed to completely knock him out with a sonic wave that also acted like an EMP surge, blinding and deafening the target. But Optimus was a hard mech to keep down, even when blind and deaf. Looking back at the other two Autobots, he saw that they were preoccupied with keeping Megatron at bay. The Autobot flyer was still trying to shoot Starscream and his cronies down so he wouldn't be a problem.

'Good,' Blackout thought. 'No interruptions.'

As he hid behind a statue, Optimus waited for his optical sensors to at least give him a fuzzy image before forming his plan. He could barely see, but Blackout was a big enough target to notice. He put his ion cannon away and took out his axe. He waited until he heard Blackout's heavy footsteps getting closer, then he jumped out from behind the statue and threw his axe.

Blackout was caught off guard and took the axe blade straight to his shoulder. The heated blade burned through his armor and into his inner circuitry and joints. While Blackout was distracted, Optimus ran in close and slammed his elbow into the Con's face, shattering his optical shutters and dazing him. Optimus then grabbed Blackout's arm and, in an amazing feat of strength, threw him almost 2 feet across the courtyard into the transforming Megatron, who had just appeared in the entrance to the valley.

"Gah!" Megatron yelled as Blackout's large body crashed into him and sent them both falling to the ground. "Get off me you fool!"

Shaking his head, Optimus spun his axe around and got ready for the real fight. He hoped that the kids were having a better time than he was.

XXXXXXXX

"We're getting close," Gina said. "The panel should be just up ahead."

The kids and D-Va ran down the long hallway after Sky Spy, was was hot on the panel's signal. There were so many hallways and many of them were dead ends, with an unlucky few harboring some dangerous traps. Gina had said that this was normal for tombs of high ranking Egyptian figures to be booby trapped. It was a way to deter grave robbers. It was only thanks to Sky Spy that they made it this far into the tomb.

Gina was watching the scanner she was carrying to monitor their progress, so she wasn't looking where she was going. Which wasn't very good as she almost fell over the side of a cliff as she exited the corridor. She shrieked as she nearly fell over, but D-Va caught the back of her shirt and hauled her back up.

"And that is why you shouldn't text and run." Tracer quipped.

"T-thanks." Gina shivered. Looking down at the sharp rocks at the bottom, she gulped.

Darren and Annie looked around at where they were. It was a large cavern, this one more rugged and natural than the previous room. More hephaestium crystals lined the walls to illuminate the otherwise dark room, and their light shined off the piles of treasure. They marveled at the treasure of gold and jewels that were organized into separate piles based on what they were used for; ornaments, decorations, statues, and so on.

"Dude," Annie whispered. "We're rich!"

"We can't think about that now, Annie." Darren said, though he was personally struggling not t o take a few gold pieces himself. "We have the find the Minicon."

Gina held her arm out for Sky Spy to land on and it inputted the data into her scanner. She read the data and turned to her friends. "It's near the center of the room. Just north of us!"

Before they could move, a blast of energy it the ground behind them, sending the group flying. Tracer, who was hit first, wrapped her arms around Gina before her body froze as they crashed into the gold pile below. Darren and Annie went tumbling down the slope onto the ground in a heap, while D-Va landed on her back at the foot of a gold pile. Up on the top of the slope, Leader-1 and Zapmaster exited the corridor, looking down at their new targets.

"This is going to be fun." Zapmaster laughed.

"Indeed it is." Leader-1 agreed.

They jumped down into the tomb and landed on the ground. Gina struggled in Tracer's grip, slowly moving the Minicon's frozen arms from her body.

"Tracer," Gina grunted. "I can barely move. Let go of me."

"Can't…move…" Tracer said. Though her mouth was frozen, her vocoder was still operational.

Gina managed to wriggle free and she dragged Tracer's body out of sight. But she didn't have to worry about getting shot at, because Leader-1 was mostly focused on the twins.

"Did you think I forgot about you brats?" Leader-1 growled. "I didn't. I remember you how you freaks made me look like a fool!"

"You are a fool!" Annie shouted. Leader-1 changed the chamber on his cannon and fired a laser blast at her.

Darren pushed Annie out of the way before the blast exploded in the spot they were previously in. They landed a short distance away and Darren uprooted stones from the ground and threw them at Leader-1. The Mini-Con fired his cannon again and vaporized the stones and forcing Darren to roll away.

"Could you please not antagonize the dude with the giant cannon?" Darren grunted. "My job is hard enough."

"Well suck it up, bro. Because Gina is making a run for the panel." Annie said.

Darren looked up and saw the blonde running through the chamber. She was looking down at her scanner while also making sure that Leader-1 didn't see her yet. He didn't notice her, but Zapmaster certainly did.

"You ain't going nowhere fleshy!"

Zapmaster lunged at her, but was knocked back by a hard strike to the face. D-Va appeared on top of a golden pedestal, twirling her staff around.

"You're going to have to fight be, bozo." She said.

D-Va leapt towards Zapmaster and swung her staff at his head. He ducked under it and barreled into her, sending them both tumbling down the pile to the ground. He knocked her staff away, but she punched him in the face and kicked his chest, sending him into a gold statue. It fell over and hit the ground, breaking into pieces, but the sword it was holding flipped into the air and landing right into Zapmaster's hand. He looked at it, before gleefully looking at his opponent.

"Damn it all to hell." D-Va groaned. Now that was just bad luck.

Darren and Annie dodged the pulse blasts Leader-1 fired their way. Their plan was to force him to wear down the cannon's energy battery, but it became evident that the thing was not going to run out any time soon. When they took cover behind a rock formation together, they thought of a new plan.

"We need to get that thing away from him. At this point, he's just wasting our time." Annie said.

"Then how do we do that? He can shoot us down before we can even reach him." Darren said. "The recharge rate on that thing is unreal."

"Then if we can't take out the gun, we should focus on the bot himself." She replied.

Leader-1 advanced on the hiding place of the twins, waiting for them to pop out so he could finally slag them and get this farce over and done with. He could shoot the rock they were hiding behind, but he wanted to see them get blown to pieces. He deserved that satisfaction.

"Come out, humans!" He yelled. "You seemed so brave the last time we met. Where did all that bravado go?"

Annie appeared from behind a gold pile and threw a plate at him like a Frisbee. It hit Leader-1 in the head and he turned to her, firing the cannon in a sweeping motion that left a trail of explosions in its wake. Annie ran to avoid the deadly blast, but tripped over a scepter and fell. Leader-1 wanted to grin if could. This was it!

His glee was cut short when Darren ran at him. He tried to turn but the cannon didn't allow him to make quick movements. Darren fired two force blasts at Leader-1 that hit him in the face, almost knocking him over. With a sweeping motion of his hand, Darren sent a piece of the ground under Leader-1 at his legs, making him lose balance and fall over.

Seeing that he lost his grip on the cannon, Darren ran forward to get it, but Leader-1 was faster than he thought. As soon as he got close, the Mini-Con leapt up and grabbed him by the throat, lifting him up with little effort and throwing him across the room into a statue, sending both crashing into a pile of gold.

"Darren!" Annie cried out. Gina heard her cry and saw Darren lying on the ground.

"No." She breathed.

Leader-1 picked up his cannon and turned to her. "I was going to kill you first, but since you like pain, how about this?"

He aimed the cannon at Gina and fired. Darren and Annie saw that wide ranged pulsar blast shoot towards Gina, who nothing to protect her.

"GINA!"

Unconsciously channeling his telekinesis into his body, Darren shot forward like a silver bullet, leaping a great distance until he was standing right in front of Gina. Acting on instinct at this point, Darren raised his arms as the beam crashed into them.

XXXXXXXXXX

Megatron pushed Blackout off him and got to his feet, snarling like an angry animal. "What is the point of even having you along if you can't hold your own in battle?!"

Ironhide rushed at Megatron, shooting a missile from one of his cannons that hit Megatron directly in the face. The Decepticon leader stumbled back from the unexpected attack, smoke and flames rising from his face. Ironhide used the moment to land a punch on Megatron's face, drawing his short axe and bringing it down on his shoulder.

But Megatron caught the weapon and grabbed Ironhide's arm in a tight grip. Tight enough to cause Ironhide's armor to groan under the strain. The red Autobot gritted his teeth but ignored the pain.

"Did you think that you could fight me?" Megatron growled. He punched Ironhide square in the face and knoced the Autobot into the sand. "Me? The mighty Megatron?"

"No," Ironhide spat some energon from his mouth. "But I made a great distraction."

In the sky, Jetfire was bating Starscream with constant taunts and jibes. He spun circles around the Seeker, throwing weak attacks that only served to annoy Starscream. When Jetfire went into a steep dive towards the ground, he had gave a rather rude comment about Starscream's inability to keep up his performance when it mattered and that was when he had enough.

"Just die already!" Starscream yelled and fired two heat seeking missiles at Jetfire.

Jetfire inwardly smirked and at the last second he pulled up so that instead of the missiles hitting him-they hit Megatron. Starscream felt his spark stop as he saw Megatron take the two missiles to the back and get blown to the ground. Normally he would be jumping at the chance to off Megatron in a heartbeat, but it will take more than two missiles to kill him. And when he gets back up, he's not going to be happy at all.

"STARSCREAM!" Megatron roared.

"Oh scrap." Starscream said. He was so dead.

Megatron stood up, sporting two smoking holes in his back, and spun around. His red eyes blazed angrily as he leveled his fusion cannon at Starscream and fired. The plasma beam cut through the air and tore into the right side of Starscream's jet mode. It was not enough to kill him, but the loss of one wing had knocked him off balance and sent him crashing into the ground, sliding across the sand into he hit a rock. At that point, he returned to robot mode, sporting one lost wing and a damaged arm.

"So you would attack your own soldiers even in the midst of a battle?" Optimus said, walking up to Megatron with his ion cannon drawn. "I expected better, Megatron."

"Spare me the lecture Prime!" Megatron growled.

They ran at each other and their blades clashed in the middle. Megatron did his best to keep Prime off him, but the still sparkling wound where Starscream had shot him was slowing him down. Optimus, never one to waste an opportunity, spun his body around Megatron's arm and got in close past his defenses, landing a hard punch to the smoking holes on the warlord's back.

Megatron gritted his teeth as searing pain erupted throughout his body. He glared balefully at Optimus and knocked him back with a headbutt, then kicked his chest to gain some distance. Of course Prime would hit him where it hurts. He was going to tear Starscream a new one.

"I didn't peg you for a mech who would hit a wounded enemy, Prime." Megatron said. "I expected better from you."

You know I would always make you an exception Megatron." Optimus said. He fired his Ion cannon, but Megatron avoided the blast by transforming into tank mode.

As he went into vehicle mode, Megatron sent a private internal comm. message to Skywarp to hit Optimus the minute he dodges the blast from his fusion cannon. The Seeker did as he was told, and Megatron found himself idly thinking that Starscream's Seekers were more loyal than the traitorous bastard himself.

Skywarp teleported the minute Megatron fired his fusion cannon. When Optimus dodged the beam, Jetfire saw the air behind the Prime shimmer and quickly called his leader.

"Prime, we've got another one at 6 o'clock!" Jetfire warned him.

Skywarp appeared behind Optimus in jet mode and fired his cruise missiles at Prime's back. Much to the amazement of Autobots and Decepticons alike, Optimus twisted his body in mid air in a way that no one with his size and bulk should be able to. The missiles soared just a few inches over his back at a distance that made even Ironhide wince. They continued forward, past Optimus and hit another target who was unfortunate enough to be in the way-Megatron.

Even Prowl had to crack a smile as the missiles exploded against the warlord's alt mode, one hitting the barrel of his fusion cannon, the other hitting the ground in front of him, but the resulting explosion damaged his treads by proximity alone. The blows forced Megatron into robot mode and he landed on one knee. His fusion cannon wasn't destroyed, but the barrel was damaged enough to make firing it again a pipe dream without the danger of overloading it. As for the treads on his legs-things were better left unsaid.

Looking at Optimus, though he couldn't see it, Megatron was well aware that the Prime was smirking at him.

"Never underestimate teamwork Megatron," Optimus said. "It might save your life one day."

XXXXXXXX

D-Va ducked under a lightning fast strike from Zapmaster and launched a spin kick at the mech's chest. Zapmaster stumbled back, but leaned back to avoid another sweeping kick aimed at his head and sprung his body upward, using the momentum to launch himself at her.

D-Va was loathed to admit it, but as garbage a fighter Zapmaster was, his quick reflexes and ability to ignore pain made him very unpredictable. She knocked him back down but he just jumped up and came back for more. It was getting exhausting.

And that was probably what he was aiming for. Knowing him, he was probably one of those mechs who acted like they were garbage but had just enough skill to avoid getting slagged within ten seconds of the fight. The type who wear down stronger opponents before going in for the kill.

But D-Va was no normal fighter. She jumped away from Zapmaster and kicked a gold chalice at his face. He ran right into it, and the chalice hit his face at full force, knocking his head back. She deployed her blaster hands and fired at his legs, brutally tearing them to shreds with a couple of well placed shots at the knees and feet. Before he could fall to the ground, she jumped up and planted both her feet into his faceplate, hearing a satisfying crunching noise of his skull cracking under her feet as she launched him 2 feet across the isle and into another Egyptian statue, ironically falling into its outstretched arms.

"Ugh…why did you have to…" He wheezed. The kick to the face had damaged the vocal speakers in his head. "Hit me so…hard…?"

"Just because I work for you," D-Va said. "Doesn't mean that I am your friend. I didn't forget how many Minicon villages you sold out to the Cons, you trigger happy piece of slag."

She spat at him and turned to locate Tracer, but a bright flash of light, followed by an explosion caused the whole cave to shake. D-Va looked in the direction the light came from in a wide eyed gaze of wonderment.

"What the hell was that?" She gaped.

XXXXXXX

Leader-1 had seen many things in his life. The abuse he suffered at the hands of Bulks because of the senate. The destruction of his village and everything he held dear. The awakening of the Metrotitan Metroplex. But this was definitely up there with seeing a giant city-former battle a giant ancient lizard in the middle of Iacon (and it was hard to top that).

Darren had jumped in the path of the laser blast that he had fired at the girl. He wasn't worried, after all even if the boy managed to block the beam, he would be overwhelmed by the intensity of the blast and both he and the girl would be atomatized within seconds. An inglorious death for an inglorious creature.

But things had gone downhill for him after that. Darren erected a TK barrier just seconds before the beam could hit him and Gina. His arms extended in front of him, the beam hit against the barrier with astounding force, enough to force him to his knees as he tried to keep it away from them. There was no way he was going to let a Minicon with a chip on shoulder kill his best friend!

"Darren!" Gina cried out. She held her breath the entire time as she saw Darren struggling to maintain the barrier. "Darren, you can't handle the strain! Stop!"

"If I stop," He grunted. "Then we both die!"

Leader-1 scoffed and increased the power into the beam. At this point it was only a matter of time before they were both destroyed. No one, not that witch or her blabbermouth friend, could stop him.

Just when it looked like the barrier was about to crumble under the strain, Darren let out a thunderous shout and something changed. Though he wasn't looking, Darren began telekinetically controlling not just the barrier, but the energy of the beam itself. He weaved it around the barrier like an extra layer of protection, taking the energy for himself. Leader-1 noticed all too late what was going on and tried to stop the cannon, but he was too slow.

Darren glared hatefully at Leader-1 and in a burst of power, released the energy in the form of his barrier outward in a powerful wave that reverberated throughout the cave. Leader-1, who was the closest, got hit with the full force of the blast wave, the energy tore into his body, searing off armor, shattering his glass visor, totaling his arms and legs, and destroying his cannon. He couldn't even scream as his vocal components were also damaged along with his optical sensors.

The wave blew the piles of gold treasure away and Annie, who was guarding over the recovering Tracer's body, was also blasted back by it. Fortunately the intensity of the blast wave weakened the more distance it traveled, but it still felt like getting bad sun burn when she was hit. They would've hit the wall had D-Va not caught them both in time.

When the wave faded out against the walls of the cave as little more than light at that point and once it was gone, the entire cave was bathed in darkness.

XXXXXXX

The Street Action Team ran through the halls towards the location where they had detected that massive energy surge. The stasis beam that hit Centurion was taking longer than normal to wear off, possibly due to their combined state, so they were forced to separate. It helped lessened the effects enough to allow them movement, but even then they were slow. Still, knowing that their friends were in danger gave them the strength to fight past it so they could get to them.

But when they got to the tomb, all they saw was darkness. The crystals that were in the walls were blown out, and the only source of light came from two headlights shining in the distance on the ground floor.

"Darren! Annie!" High Wire called out.

He let out a sigh of relief as he heard Tracer yell back. "We're okay! But we need you to come get us!"

High Wire and Sureshock switched on their lights and they entered the cave with Grindor taking point. They slowly trudged through the darkness, keeping their eyes open for any surprises. Then Grindor tripped over something and fell to the ground.

"Are you okay?" Sureshock asked.

"Yeah, I just tripped over some-ahh!"

Grindor scrambled back as he saw what he tripped over. It was Leader-1-or what was left of him. The Mini-Con looked like he was grinded through factory gears and was then sheered by drills and hammers. He was little more than a broken torso with an equally mangled head. There were bits of mashed up armor and energon where his arms and legs would be. They would've thought he was dead of not for the static coming out of his vocal speaker.

"Oh wow." Sureshock gasped.

"What happened to him?" High Wire asked.

D-Va's voice called out to them. "You have Darren to thank for that."

They looked back to see D-Va carrying an unconscious Darren on her back. Annie was helping Tracer along as she got her nerve circuits online again. Gina was holding the Minicon panel, and was oddly quiet. Sureshock noticed that she was standing close to Darren like a shadow.

Knowing better than to ask, High Wire called Optimus. "Prime, mission accomplished. We got the panel."

XXXXXXX

Megatron knew that things were not looking good for him. He was wounded, both figuratively and literally, by his own bots no less. And three of his soldiers were out of commission, with only Thundercracker still operational. As expected, Optimus had returned that pot shot Skywarp tried to deal him in kind, managing to blast a hole in the Outlier and take him out of the fight. And Jetfire was hounding him like a shade from hell.

As for Megatron himself, he was outnumbered and lacking his most powerful weapon. Sure he could take out Prowl, but that fossil Ironhide was a hardy one and could take a lot of damage. And that wasn't even counting Optimus. The only thing that could salvage the failing mission was acquiring the panel so they can leave.

'Where the hell is Leader-1?' Megatron thought. 'He should've gotten the damn thing by now. How hard is it to squash three Minicons and their children with a beam cannon?'

The silence between the four combatants was broken when Prime's comm. gave an alert. He pressed his finger to the side of his head and listened to the message. After hearing it, he signed off and gave Megatron a stare that he confirmed his suspicions.

"It would seem that Leader-1 has been disposed of. As is Zapmaster." Optimus said. "Now you have two choices. Leave and take your broken soldiers back to the Nemesis. Or you could stay here, loose Thundercracker, then try and take on all five of us at once after taking on friendly fire from your slaves. It's your decision."

Megatron glared at Optimus for a moment before sheathing his arm blade and standing back. "I know when I'm beat, Prime. But don't get too comfortable with your win." He warned. "My retribution is as swift as my wrath. And there are other ways to win a battle without firing a shot."

The Autobots watched Megatron recall Thundercracker and the newly revived Blackout to him. They gathered up Skywarp and Starscream and called Soundwave for a ground bridge. When the Cons were finally gone, the Autobots finally relaxed their guard.

"That was intense." Prowl said. Ironhide nodded in agreement.

"Yeah. I thought we were gonna have a hard time dealing with them." He said.

Jetfire landed next to them and brushed imaginary dust off his shoulders. Looking at his comrades, he said, "Damn I'm good."

"Oh shut up." Prowl sighed.

Optimus ignored their banter and walked over to where he saw the Minicons and children exiting the passage they had uncovered. Seeing Darren unconscious and Annie looking like she had been in the sun for too long, he looked questioningly at High Wire.

'We'll explain later after we get back to base." He assured Prime.

"And after a long nap." Annie said. She hissed as she poked at her reddening skin. Melody was going to tan her ass when she saw this.

XXXXXXX

Darren groaned as he sat on the medical berth in the human section of Ratchet's med lab. The doctor was placing some ointment on Annie's skin, which was slightly burned from the energy wave she was hit with. It was nothing serious but it could get irritated if not taken care of soon. Annie accepted the annoying treatment without argument since she knew that if he didn't do it, then Melody will, and she wouldn't be gentle about it.

As for the resident esper, he was resting after waking up from his sleeping spell. Using his powers in such a way had put some strain on his mind, and as a result he got a headache the size of Jetfire's ego.

"How are you feeling?" Gina asked as she walked up to his bedside.

"Like crap. My head is pounding and my body feels ten times heavier." He said.

"Well, that was the first time you've ever used your powers on such a large scale. If it makes you feel better, you certainly tore Leader-1 a new one." She smiled.

Darren grinned at that. "Yeah, that does make me feel better. How is our new arrival?"

"He's doing fine. We've got our own speedster, Incinerator." She told him. "He's a friendly mech but a bit of an insecure guy. So watch what you say around him."

"Will do."

Gina looked down at her hands shyly. "Thanks for saving me. I'm sorry you nearly hurt yourself protecting me. I wasn't really thinking when I ran out there alone."

"It's not your fault. We've made it out, and that's all that matters. And besides," Darren grinned and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a handful of tiny gold trinkets and jewels. "I managed to swipe some stuff from the tomb before the fireworks started. A little something for you to study on your down time."

Gina looked at the jewels before launching herself at Darren and pulling him into a tight hug. He blushed when gave him a big kiss on the cheek and smiled like a madwoman.

"Jinkies, Darren," She said. "You are the best friend a nerdy girl can ask for."

Elsewhere in the Ark, another conversation was going that was not as lighthearted. This one was happening between Prowl and Optimus in the privacy of Prime's quarters.

"It happened again. The Decepticons got our intel without so much as sending a scout." Prowl said. He was sure of it now. "One of the Minicons on our team is the spy."

Optimus had to agree with him. That ambush in the valley, followed by the one in the tomb with Leader-1 knowing to bring a weapon to subdue the kids' guardian gestalt, it was no way a coincidence. There really was a Minicon spy in their ranks. But who?

"Optimus, you have to let me initiate a total lockdown of the Minicons," Prowl requested. "The kids' guardians to. No one is allowed in or out of the Ark until we get to the bottom of this."

"Out of the question." Prime said firmly. "We are not treating the Minicons like criminal, spy or no spy."

"Optimus, they're conspiring against us!" Prowl replied. "We need to nip this in the bud before something happens that will cripple the war effort on this planet."

'When did it turn from one spy to a whole conspiracy?' Optimus thought. "I will not strip away their rights based on the actions of an enemy that we do not even know the identity of. If we do this then we risk alienating the Minicons, and possibly playing into the spy's hands."

It went unspoken between them that the Minicons were only just now beginning to trust the Autobots with prodding from Sparkplug. They were more inclined to trust the kids, who have done everything in their power to protect and help them in any way possible. It was thanks to the children that the Minicons were supporting them, but one wrong move could cause a civil dispute that would lead to chaos.

"Then what do you suggest we do? Wait for the spy to sabotage us and kill one of our friends?" Prowl asked.

Optimus sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "We act now, and any chance of finding the culprit will be lost. At this moment, secrecy is key. When the spy strikes again, that is when we will act."

Prowl didn't look happy about letting a security risk run free around their ship, but he accepted Prime's reason. For now. But he wasn't going to idly sit by and watch everything they fought for get torn to pieces by one Minicon. Besides, he already had his group of suspects to watch.

One of the five Minicons that came with them to Egyptia.

XXXXXXXXX

" _Why didn't you tell me that the boy had that kind of power?!"_ Leader-1 shouted into the secret comm. link. D-Va winced and rubbed her audio receptor.

She was out on recon with Arcee. And while the Autobot was exploring the thick forest for energon, D-Va was having a not so nice conversation with the newly healed Leader-1.

"Don't blame me." She said. "I told you that he was a wildcard with his powers. Not my fault you chose to act like a gun toting maniac."

" _Don't get fresh with me,"_ Leader-1 snarled. " _Those brats have pissed me off for the last time! They've been a thorn in our side for too long, and I will not stand by as they insult my honor as a Decepticon. Before it was business, but now it's personal. You want to hurt the Autobots like they've hurt us, don't you?"_

D-Va wanted to say yes, but she instinctively knew that she wasn't going to like what he had to say.

" _Then hit them where it hurts. Attack their heart and let them bleed out. Make them truly suffer."_ Leader-1 said with sadistic glee. " _When you get the chance on the next mission. kill the humans. I don't care how you do it, but snuff them out. Only then can we get our revenge on the Autobots!"_

D-Va had never felt so afraid in her life.


	21. The City of Gold

Chapter 21-The City of Gold

The Kokkari Mountains of northeast Asia was one of the largest mountain ranges in the country of Xing. Though it paled in comparison to the massive scale of the Himalayas, the Kokkari range was nothing to sniff at. Many people had tried and failed to climb to the very top of the snowy peaks. Such failures were caused for a myriad of reasons; the low temperatures, unstable rocky terrain that made climbing all the more dangerous, the harsh weather, the occasional avalanche, and the most common cause of death-lack of oxygen at high altitudes. Thus no living human had made it to the top without experiencing difficulties with survival.

But that didn't stop Optimus from dragging Jazz along for a little trip up the mountains.

The two Autobots were climbing the steep mountainside with nothing but their bare hands. As the harsh, cold winds and low oxygen count didn't affect them, the only thing they had to worry about was losing their grip and tumbling down the side all the way to the bottom. It was a long way down.

"When Ironhide told me that you took him hiking in the Grav-Haraan glaciaer, I didn't believe him." Jazz grunted. "But here we are, climbing the side of one of the world's tallest mountains. What the hell is wrong with you?"

"This helps me clear my head, Jazz." Optimus said. He was standing on a ledge just a few feet higher than where Jazz was climbing. He had no trouble getting up there. "I thought Yoketron trained his warrior in much harsher conditions."

"He made us move boulders up a hill using only our feet and taught us how to stand on our fingers. Not make us climb mountains." Jazz yelled up to him. "He wanted to make us stronger, not kill us. You're just a sadist who thinks mountain climbing is a great way to clear your sinuses."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Jazz."

Optimus looked back up at the vast distance of land before him. Standing on top of the cliff like this really did clear his mind. The fresh air focused his senses, and the natural solitude it provided helped him gather his thoughts. Ironhide may still be holding a grudge for dragging him across Cybertron's southern polar region, but Prime knew that he was just a bit grumpy. Though he wouldn't say it to the arms master, Ironhide was getting a bit old, and a little hike up a mountain might do the old servos some good.

When Jazz finally reached the top, he helped his friend onto the cliff. They looked out into the distance together, just taking in the view. Talking about their home planet had brought back some memories of what things were like in the past. Back when Cybertron, though in social disorder, was still a natural paradise all on its own.

"I wonder how the guys back home are doing." Jazz said after a short period of silence. He sat down against the slope and picked up some pebbles. "Jetfire said they're doing fine, but that was like thousands of years ago."

"I'm sure they're fine, Jazz. The Autobots have good people commanding them, unlike the Decepticons." Optimus said. "I have faith in them."

Jazz nodded and threw a rock over the side. "Wasn't expecting Elita to take up the leadership role. She always had that air about her, ya know? Like Ultra Magnus, but less stiff."

"When you lead a team as diverse as the Valkyries, you have to be strong." Optimus thought fondly of his love back home.

The role of leader was one that makes you feel and look older than you really were, he wondered if it was stressful for Elita to command the entire Autobot army. Was Ultra Magnus still leading the Wreckers? Or did he relinquish that post to aid Elita as her lieutenant? So many questions, and they keep piling on each other despite all the answers they got.

And for the Cybertron-bound Decepticons. He knew that Shockwave was most likely in command in Megatron's absence, but from what Jetfire said, there were other forces trying to wretch control from the maniacal scientist. The Decepticons were always fighting amongst each other, even when Megatron was present. Still, there were factions within the Decepticons who had goals beyond winning the war, and Optimus did not envy Megatron when he had to contend with them.

" _Optimus,"_ Ratchet's voice said through the comm. " _This is Ratchet do you copy?"_

"I hear you, Ratchet. What is the problem?" Optimus asked.

" _Teletran-1 just picked up a strange energy reading in the heart of the Ravan Rainforest in India. I can't identify it, but it seems like something that you might want to check out."_

"Understood, we'll check it out." Optimus turned to Jazz. "Looks like our hike is cancelled."

"Aww, what a shame." Jazz faked a sad groan and stood up like a wobbly ragdoll. "Too bad. It was just getting good to. Where are we going?"

Optimus tried to keep the smile out his voice as he gave Jazz the bad news. "Someplace you're familiar with."

XXXXXXXXXX

Songbird flew above the Ravana Rainforest, her keen eyes scouting the ground below. She also had her audio and visual sensors amped up to the maximum, allowing her to hear all sorts of sound in the jungle, though none of what she was looking for. Even in infrared vision, she couldn't see much in such a thick area of vegetation. Seeing that she was not making much progress in the air, Songbird circled around and flew back to where her mistress was.

She dived down through the canopy, her thin wings cutting through the vines and branches in her path. She made it to the ground and swooped down low to land on an outstretched black armored arm.

"Did you find anything, Songbird?" Nightshade asked.

"No mistress," Songbird answered. "The rainforest is too thick to see all the way to the ground, and from what I can gather, the energy signal is a long ways off from our position."

"Perfect." Nightshade sighed.

"I could have told you that, that wasn't going to work."

Nightshade glared back at Megatron, who was leaning against a large tree, looking like he didn't have a care in the world. They were in the Ravana rainforest looking into a strange energy signature that Soundwave had stumbled upon by chance. The pair had taken a ground bridge to the area, as Soundwave couldn't get a proper fix on the signal's point of origin.

"It would appear that the energy signature is permeating throughout the area." Soundwave explained. "It is hard to pinpoint its location, as the energy is coming from the surrounding land itself. The best course of action is to explore the area, and look for anything out of the ordinary."

So here they were, smack dab in the middle of the largest rainforest in the world, covered in preparation and trying to keep smalls insects from crawling through their armor panels on their feet. They spent a grand total of 30 minutes looking around blindly and so far, they had no leads.

"What do you suggest then, Megatron?" Nightshade asked snidely. "Surely you must have a plan that will help us find our quarry before the Autobots start sniffing around."

Megatron was about to reply, when Soundwave's voice rang through their heads. " _Megatron, Nightshade, Autobot signatures detected near your position."_

"Where are they going, Soundwave?" Megatron asked.

" _Northwest, towards a waterfall. That area has not been explored by humans beyond that point."_

"See what I mean?" Nightshade said. "Now we have to rush."

" _Furthermore, one of the Autobots is Optimus Prime."_

Megatron smiled, prompting Nightshade to inquire what he was so happy about. "Nightshade, in the centuries I've spent fighting Optimus, I have learned that if you are searching for a relic of pseudo-mystical importance, then you follow Optimus Prime." He said. "Because nine times out of ten, he knows where he is going."

He stood up and walked past his first lieutenant, batting a tree aside as he went into the underbrush.

"Come, Nightshade. Let us see what else this world has to offer."

XXXXXXX

"I gotta say boss bot," Jazz said as he untangled the vines from his arms. "As much as I like this planet, this place is probably my least favorite place in the world."

"How so?" Optimus asked.

"Aside from the little critters trying to get into my armor," Jazz replied. "There is the heat, the tiny bugs trying to make me their new colony, and the branches that keep hitting me in the face. Seriously, the humidity is going to make my joints rust."

"Just bear through it, Jazz. There's no harm in exploring a place no other human has discovered before." Optimus said.

Despite the light-hearted banter, Optimus was not in good spirits. Ever since he entered the Amazon, he felt the Matrix begin to slowly heat up in his chest. He had no idea what it meant, as the Matrix wasn't showing him any visions that might hint at what it wanted him to see, but he figured that it might have something to do with the energy signature.

It wasn't so much that the Matrix was trying to tell him something, rather there was something resonating with the sacred relic. Enough to make it react strongly the closer they got to it. Optimus didn't know what they were going to find, but he hoped that it wasn't anything too stressful. He had enough after fighting Talon on Crete. Who was he kidding? They were probably going to run into something just as bad as that automaton.

"So," Jazz said. "How long do you think it will be before we run into any Cons?"

They stopped as they heard the sound of an explosion in the distance, followed by the creaking of toppling trees.

"Well that answers that question." He turned to Prime. "What do you want to do?"

"We keep going. We have a lead on the Decepticons, and I intend to keep it that way." Optimus said and continued onward.

Jazz looked back just in time to see another tree fall in the distance and followed his leader. They both knew that the Decepticons would run into them sooner or later. It might as well be on their terms, and not in a jungle where they could get shot at from a distance.

XXXXXXXXX

Optimus and Jazz had spent a good part of the hour trudging through the thick jungle, deeper than anyone had ever explored before in human history. They didn't know where they were and they had no idea if there were any indigenous tribes native to the region. Seeing as at this point human explorers were forced to turn back because of infection, wounds or poisonous animals, the two Autobots were just going on instinct at this point. And the Matrix, but that's a given.

Optimus pushed through the last of the trees and found himself on the edge of a large river. One that extended to a waterfall only a few feet away from them and probably dropped off a long way down. Jazz stood next to him and whistled at the sight.

"This is going to be a doozy. Got any ideas?" He asked.

"Only two. One of them involves jumping over the river." Optimus said.

"And the second plan?"

"Jumping over in vehicle mode."

"Mmm." Jazz winced and turned the distance between them and the other side in his head. "Looks like I could shoot my grappling hook over to the nearest tree. Maybe pull myself over there and have you use the line to pull yourself through the river?"

"Will it hold my weight?"

"If it can hold Cliffjumper's fat ass, then I'm confident that it can hold you, boss bot." Jazz replied. "At least for a little while." He added.

Jazz fired his grappling hook at a tree and landed a hit. He made sure that the line was secure before pulling himself over the wide river and just barely landing on the other side. He detached his hook and was about to fire it back across for Optimus when he saw a black shape heading towards them at high speeds.

"Optimus! We've got incoming!" He yelled.

Optimus already saw the Con-Nightshade. He drew his Ion cannon and fired at the black bird, almost catching her in the wing. Nightshade let out a cry and fired a dozen missile darts from her wings at him. Optimus jumped back into the trees to avoid the explosions that shattered the edge of the slope he was standing in, and fired his cannon at her.

Nightshade grunted as the blast nicked her right wing and circled around for another bombardment. She wasn't expecting Jazz to shoot at her from behind. A photon blast hit her tail feathers and she spun out of control a bit before glaring back at Jazz.

"Sorry." Jazz grinned. He wasn't sorry.

Optimus was about to shoot her down when he instinctively rolled to the side to avoid a plasma beam that was shot at him from behind. The blast tore through the trees, and went all the way to the other side of the river, vaporizing the trees next to Jazz. He spun around to see Megatron running out of forest with his blade out.

"Prime!"

"I am right here." Optimus said. "You don't have to shout."

Megatron growled and stabbed at Optimus, who side stepped and kicked him in the face. Optimus reached back to take out his battle axe, but Megatron slammed his whole body into him. Their combined weight was too much for them and they went tumbling over the edge into the rushing waters.

"Optimus!" Jazz exclaimed.

The two leaders were still grappling even as the strong currents pulled them down the river. Optimus tried to grab hold of something to stop himself but Megatron kept trying to choke him whenever he took his hands off Megatron's arms for more than a second.

"We're going to fall if we don't stop now, Megatron!" He shouted.

"Unlike you, Prime. I was smart enough to bring my own personal flyer along with me." Megatron grinned.

Jazz fired his photon rifle at Megatron's back whenever he got a good aim, but the photon charges only lightly burned the warlord's thick armor. He only had one thing left of keep Optimus from falling over and that was only if he was strong enough not to get pulled over himself. He signaled Optimus his plan, and the Prime nodded.

"You may like making every battle one last stand, Megatron," Optimus pulled out his ion cannon and pointed it at Megatron's face. "But not this time."

He fired the cannon and Megatron was blinded by a burst of light and energy. Startled by the rather brutal move, Megatron let go of Optimus as his face erupted in burning pain. At that moment, Jazz fired his grappling hook at his leader, which he caught. Jazz dug his feet into the ground to anchor himself, but he still found them both edging towards the cliff.

"Use the tree!" Optimus shouted.

Jazz plated his feet against a tree and managed to stop getting dragged forward. He slowly retracted the line and brought Optimus closer to land. Megatron, who was half blind, was still able to see Optimus getting pulled to safety and he wasn't having it at all.

"If I die, you're coming with me!" Megatron aimed his fusion cannon and fired.

Curiously, he did not shoot at Optimus, who was open and defenseless, but at Jazz-or rather the tree he was standing on. The beam blew the tree into splinters and Jazz lost his leverage. Optimus lost his anchor to safety and was sent back into the violent waters, with Jazz getting dragged into the water after him.

Nightshade circled around the river in the sky and saw that Megatron was almost at the top of the waterfall. She swooped down and flew inside the misty spray of water that the waterfall dissolved into just as Megatron went over the edge. She grunted when Megatron landed on her back, his heavy weight making her falter a bit before she fired up her wing's miniature jet boosters and regained her aerial balance.

"You certainly took your time." Megatron said. Nightshade glared back at him.

"You're welcome." She said. "And I was busy looking into the energy trace around here. It looks like the readings get stronger inside the cave behind the waterfall."

"Even now, fate smiles down upon us." Megatron smiled. "Go, Nightshade. Let us see what secrets lie inside."

"What about the Autobots?"

"Neither Prime nor his lackey can fly. But still, if nature does not crush their bodies, I will return and finish the job."

Nightshade flew low, soaring through the misty water droplets of the waterfall as she went towards the large opening in the side of the mountain that lay covered by the wall of water and mist.

Up above, Optimus and Jazz were rapidly approaching the end of the river. Optimus was just barely keeping his head above the water, and Jazz was still trying to get his bearings. The cold water, while not as debilitating to Autobots as it was to humans, was still enough to make his circuits feel numb. He tried to fire his grappling hook again but to his surprise, Optimus stopped him.

"Wait!" He shouted over the rushing water.

"What? We're going to fall off a waterfall boss bot!" Jazz yelled back.

"That's the idea!"

Before Jazz could question if the cold water was stalling Prime's processor, he felt himself get pulled under the surface beneath the current and then they began to fall. Both Autobots finally reached the end of the river and they fell over the cliff along with the water, gravity taking its hold of their large bodies as they descended into the wide cavern beneath them.

It was a long drop. So long that the water spread out in a fine mist and was blown away by the strong winds before it even got half way to the bottom. The Autobots were not made of water, and thus they faced a very real danger of hitting the bottom with enough force to shatter them into a thousand pieces like glass. But luckily Optimus had a plan.

"Jazz fired your line over there!" Optimus pointed to a spot where the water turned to mist.

Jazz did as instructed, firing the line a good distance through the bottom of the waterfall and got a good hold on the rock wall behind it. The watery mist wasn't strong enough to dislodge the hook from where it was embedded and so he was safe. Grabbing Prime's hand, Jazz reeled them in, shooting past the wet mist and towards the rocky cliff face. He grabbed hold of the rocks with his hands, while Optimus dug his battle axe into the stone and used it to hold his large body up.

"So, what now?" Jazz asked. "I'm pretty sure that climbing back up is out of the question."

"Is it. Look." Jazz followed Optimus' finger towards the large cave entrance that was behind the waterfall. "We're on the right track. All we need to do is follow Megatron's example and observe."

XXXXXXXX

Traversing the tunnel was more difficult than Megatron and Nightshade had originally thought. Half way through the cave, Nightshade was forced to transform as the underground passage grew narrower. As the cave was half submerged in water from some river or stream that came from the other end, the two Cons walked through knee deep-for them-water that only served to make Megatron more impatient.

They were going in the right direction, that much was true. But they could barely see in the darkness and the constant flutter of bats and other organic critters around Nightshade's head was grating on her short nerves.

"If another bat flies by my head one more time," Nightshade growled. As if to taunt her, a bat flew past her head and almost made her trip.

Before she could light up the whole cave in her anger, Megatron grabbed her shoulder and pointed forward. A beam of light shown down from an opening just a few feet in front of them.

"Stay the course, Nightshade." Megatron said. "It won't do to lose your temper now."

They walked towards the large opening, which was just big enough for them to get past and found themselves on the edge of a city. That was not as remarkable as the fact that the entire city was made of gold.

"What is this?" Megatron muttered, clearly shocked by this unexpected development.

They were standing in a canal that most likely ran throughout the entire city via waterways. Much of the city had buildings that were composed of stone, but the largest buildings were pure gold, from the smallest temples to the largest holiest places of worship. The midday sun shined down on the large pyramids that dotted the city, making the gold glisten so brightly that they had to lower the light filters on their optical sensors.

Unknown to them, they had just found a city that had long since been declared a myth by archaeologists and historians for decades. This was a city that was once ruled by one of India's greatest heroes-Arjuna.

"What is this place?" Nightshade asked softly. Megatron shook himself from his stupor and stepped out of the canal into the stone streets.

"Don't know, don't care. We have a job to." He said. "Can you pinpoint the source of the energy reading now?"

Nightshade checked her scanner. The indicator was still in the red, but as she pointed it at the largest pyramid at the center of the city, the indicator went all the way to the edge of the red zone.

"Looks like we check out the center pyramid." She said. Megatron nodded and transformed, rolling down the wide streets at top speed without any care that her chipped off a piece of any of the thousand year old buildings that he crashed into.

Nightshade detached Songbird from her arm and the Minicon climb on her shoulder. "Songbird, I want you to stay here and watch the cave. Megtraon may think that the Autobots have perished, but you can never be too cautious when Optimus Prime is concerned."

"Yes, mistress. I will stand sentinel here." Songbird chimed.

"Don't call-nevermind." Nightshade sighed. She placed Songbird on the head of a dragon statue and went into beast mode.

Songbird watched her mistress fly away into the city before turning her head 160 degrees to the canal entrance. No one was getting into the city without her noticing.

XXXXXXXX

Driving through the city, Megatron idly noted how there were a lot of statues and wall murals depicting a snake-like creature with feathered wings. Having passed by enough of them on the way to the pyramid, he figured that this beast was some figure they worshipped as a god. His instincts told him to be cautious, he had seen just how big some of the wildlife could get on this planet, and if such feathered serpent exists, then he needed to be careful. He didn't get this far just by being reckless.

Nightshade was the first to reach the pyramid. It was made of gold, just like the rest of the city, but it was twice as tall as the other pyramids and was situated between two large mountains. The tall structure was built in a 3-D formation, with a square base that allowed for the pyramid to have four sides, but only two sides had long stairs carved into it that reached the very top. What puzzled her was the bridge that connected the pyramid to the left mountain, with stylized drawings of that same feathered serpent etched into the gold.

"I have a bad feeling about this." She muttered.

"Nightshade, are you there yet?" Megatron asked.

"Yes, I'm flying over the pyramid," She said. "And I was right on the money when I said that the energy reading was coming from it. The whole thing it lit up on the scanner like Iacon at midnight."

"Go inside and see what's causing it to flare up like that." Megatron ordered. "I will stand guard out here."

Nightshade flew around the pyramid, trying to find some opening she could enter through. When she found none, she decided to make on herself. Nightshade circled around to the front and fired off her missile darts. The tiny projectiles hit the golden pyramid and blasted through the weak metal. They blasted a hole inside with ease, and to her surprise, she saw that the interior of the Pyramid was actually hollow.

"Well this is an interesting discovery." She said. "Megatron, I think I found-"

A loud roar filled the air and could be heard throughout the entire city. The unexpected noise nearly knocked Nightshade off balance and made Megatron grit his teeth.

"What was that?" He asked.

Before she could answer, she saw the mountain next to the pyramid begin to shake and tremble, as if a quake was occurring. Nightshade transformed and landed on the bridge, looking inside the dark entrance into the mountain. All she saw was a pair of large golden eyes before a large stream of fire came shooting out of the hole.

"Slag!" Nightshade jumped off the bridge and avoided getting blown to pieces by the attack.

She landed next to Megatron on the ground and they both looked up to see a large, serpentine shape with a large wing span slither out of the mountain and through the air. It was the creature depicted in the murals, a long snake-like body with short but strong looking legs. It had blue scales and large multi-colored feathered wings that were as large as the width of the Nemesis itself. And its head was long and narrow, with a mouth full of sharp teeth strong enough to pierce stone and metal.

This was a dragon-one native to the Amazon and often worshipped by the ancient cultures that once lived in Azteca. The Amphithere dragon of the southern continent.

XXXXXXXX

Songbird heard the roar from her perch on the other side of the city. It practically caused the ground to shake and nearly caused her to fall off the statue. Startled, she looked towards the area where her mistress and Megatron had went and saw the large dragon flying around in the air like some twisting kite.

"What is that?" She gasped. Where was that thing hiding? Never mind, she needed to call Nightshade and see what's going on. "Mistress? Are you there? What is happening? Where did that beast-"

She was cut off when a blaster bolt hit her from behind, destroying the statue and sending her flying off her perch. Songbird spun around and instinctively shifted into her weapon mode and fired her laser beam, but she missed and was left open to another bolt that hit her in the barrel of her alt mode. Songbird crashed through the wall of one of the nearby buildings and was buried under a pile of rocks, reverting to robot mode as she fell unconscious.

"That was easy." Jazz said as he and Optimus exited the cave. "Now, where is…" He trailed off as he saw the dragon in the distance. "Damn it. Can we get a mission that doesn't involve fragging giants and monsters?"

"I'm afraid that's a tall order for the forces that be, Jazz." Optimus said. Then he saw a fireball shooting towards them at high speeds. "Incoming!"

They jumped apart as the fireball hit the ground, leveling a building and leaving a crater in the ground. Optimus ran to the edge of the crater and looked inside to see what was just fired at them.

It was Megatron. The Decepticon leader was at the bottom of the crater with smoke rising off his form like he just fell out of orbit. His armor was heavily scorched and he looked like he took a punch from Omega Supreme head on, with broken pieces of armor and circuitry hanging off his for. He tried to move but fell back down onto his back coughing up smoke.

"Prime," Megatron rasped. "Of course. First I get thrown 2 miles into the ground, then my worst enemy stands above me gloating. What else could happen to me? Starscream throws me off a ship?"

"No one is gloating Megatron." Optimus said.

"Please, you know you want to."

The Amphithere dragon flew towards their position, chasing after Nightshade like a fish trying to eat quill. The Con waved through the air, trying to perform some complicated aerial maneuvers to get it off her tail. But the dragon was much faster despite its size, cutting through the air like an arrow and easily matching her speed. Nightshade fired a dozen missile darts at the creature, not caring if she blew its head off.

But to her surprise, the Amphithere spun its body in a tight coil and swatted the darts out of the air, exploding them along its tough scales and not even being phased by the detonations along its body. It then coiled its body tightly before unrolling itself like a spring and flicking Nightshade with its tail. Optimus and Jazz watched Nightshade go flying through the air until she hit the golden pyramid hard enough to go crashing through the tough outer layer.

"She's going to feel that tomorrow morning." Jazz winced.

The Amphithere swerved its head towards the two Autobots, green eyes flashing with rage at the beings who intruded upon its territory. Optimus and Jazz immediately ran as fast as they could just as the dragon took a deep breath and released a large compact fireball at them. The attack caused an explosion that leveled an entire block to go up in a giant plume of flames. Optimus swerved around a falling boulder and transformed, firing his ion cannon at the beast.

The dragon skillfully flew its body around the ion blast and whipped its tail at the ground. Optimus grunted as the muscular tail slammed into him with enough force to send him flying. But to the surprise of the dragon, the Prime grabbed onto its tail and held on for dear life as it tried to throw him of. Optimus ignored the pain of being slammed repeatedly into the ground like a hammer and tightened his grip, slowly climbing up its body whenever it stopped for a few seconds.

The Aphithere growled and opened its mouth wide to bite down on what it thought was a metal human before it was forced to weave its body around a purple plasma beam that almost took its head off. It glared down at the charred and beaten form of Megatron, his fusion cannon smoking from its recent shot.

"Come on you savage beast!" Megatron roared. "I am Megatron! I've fought larger creatures than you!" Megatron pulled out a hilt and purple energy exploded from it, forming a large club with spikes along its length-a mace. "Come at me and I'll show you who is superior!"

'You have to admire his tenacity.' Optimus thought as he continued to climb up the tail towards the larger body.

The dragon roared and shot its head forward, jaws wide open to snap Megatron up in a single bite. Megatron, ever the gladiator, gave his own roar and leapt at the dragon. Both bot and beast charge forward with great ferocity, then lunged forward in an attempt to kill the other first.

XXXXXXXX

Nightshade groaned in pain as she pushed the last of the rocks off her. She got to her knees, but hissed as she flexed her wings a little bit. They weren't severely damaged, but her right wing was slightly bent out of shape and she could tell that hardcore flying was out of the question.

"Wonderful." She muttered and looked up at where she fell into the pyramid. The Amphithere had smacked her into the side of the pyramid and she crashed into the golden surface with such force that she was amazed that she wasn't in at least two or three pieces considering how fast she was flying.

Then she noticed that she was actually inside the pyramid. It was just as she thought, the structure was hollow inside, and the energy signature was even stronger. Nightshade stood up and approached the pit that was at the base of the pyramid's interior. Looking down she saw that there was a spiral staircase leading deep underground. Humming in thought, she jumped down, using the boosters in her wings to slow her descent.

She landed on the ground, where the smooth carvings of man gave way to the rugged natural formations of the cave under the pyramid. Following the energy reading, she found herself in a small dome shaped cavern that was lined with intricate carvings along its smooth surface. And in the center of the chamber was the source of the strong energy readings-a shrine.

The shrine was made of gold and had the statue of a tall humanoid being who had three eyes, each eye a different type of jewel, and standing on one leg. Nightshade looked down to see that it had a weapon in its hands, a large silver bow with engravings of an elephant's face on the front of the diamond hard shaft. Nightshade, feeling oddly tentative in the sightless gaze of the statue of the god Shiva, grabbed the bow and picked it up.

The bow was actually almost as tall as her, possessing a double curve along the shaft that looked like it was made of some kind of marble or even metal. The string was white, like silk, but when she plucked it, it gave off a low rumble, like thunder. Feeling a bit more comfortable now, she hooked her finger in the string and pulled it back.

"Whoa!"

She let go of the string when she saw that a small, faint arrow of light materialized in the bow. It was like her energon bow but more fluid and less flashy. Nightshade drew the string back and the arrow appeared once again, this time much more brighter and stronger.

"How is this possible?" Nightshade wondered aloud. This bow was thousands of years old, and had no signs of advanced energy projection technology that would allow such a thing to work. How did the humans have such a strange weapon at their disposal?

" _Nightshade!"_

Megatron's voice rang through her comm. and she quickly answered back. "Megatron?"

" _Nightshade answer me damn you!"_ He grunted on the other line. She could hear him but he couldn't hear her. " _If you're still alive get your ass here now! I need assistance!"_

She heard a loud roar on the other end followed by Megatron's pained grunts. Then the connection was cut. Nightshade looked at the bow in her hands and took a deep breath. It didn't matter what this weapon was. She had a mission to complete, and that meant helping Megatron with their overgrown lizard problem. With one last look at Shiva she left the chamber with bow in hand.

"Alright," Nightshade said. "Let's see just what you're made of."

The Nightshade left the temple and walked into the light with her new weapon-the legendary bow Gandiva.

XXXXXXXXXX

Megatron rolled to the side to avoid getting crushed by the tail of the dragon. He swung his mace and hit the side of the muscular tail, only to get hit by the appendage and get sent crashing through two buildings. Jazz grappled onto a statue and fired his photon rifle, but the dragon, which was much smarter than it looked, did its best job avoiding the points of light that was being shot at it.

The Amphithere slithered up to the silver Autobot and fired its infernal breath at him, forcing Jazz to jump off. It followed after the Autobot, still bathing the area in a continuous stream of fire that was so hot even Jazz felt like he would start sweating. The dragon didn't let up its assault until Optimus jumped on its head and punched the back of its skull. It thrashed around in pain and Optimus jumped off when it swung its head towards the ground. Channeling power to his hyper-coil musculature, Optimus landed a very strong punch to the dragon's jaw, knocking it senseless and dazing it long enough for him to land another blow to its snout. The dragon's head swung around until it hit a temple then crashed to the ground.

Optimus landed on the ground and Jazz jogged up to him, looking a bit scorched by nothing a round in the CR chamber couldn't handle.

"That was intense." Jazz breathed.

"Indeed." Optimus agreed and looked at his friend. "Are you damaged?"

"No. I was almost turned into slag though if you hadn't cold clocked the thing. So thanks for that save."

Optimus nodded but tensed up when he felt the dragon's body twitch. Looking back at the large reptilian, he saw its eyes, which were slightly rolled back into its head, shake themselves back into focus before glaring at the two Autobots. Optimus and Jazz stepped back as the Amphithere slowly picked itself off the ground and growled in a sign of anger. Obviously it didn't appreciate getting punched in the face.

"Jazz! Retreat!" Optimus yelled.

The Amphithere took a deep breath and shot a truly intense stream of fire that could be felt even by Megatron who was about a mile away. Optimus and Jazz transformed and kicked into ultra gear to avoid getting incinerated. But the explosion at the end of the fire blast knocked them off their wheels and the reverted to their robot modes. The two Autobots stood their ground and faced the dragon, who prepared to tear them limb from limb.

Then it stopped. A loud rumble filled the air and the Amphithere looked towards the pyramid. Standing on top, where the ancient humans would normally leave offerings to the dragon in the form of food, was Nightshade. She was plucking the string of Gandiva and it released a tremendous sound akin to thunder. It roared and flew towards her at great speeds, intending on ripping her to pieces.

Nightshade watched it fly towards her and made sure that her jet boosters in her wings and feet were deployed. With her wing broken, she had to finish this quickly before it could get a hold of her.

When it was close enough, the Amphithere shot its fire breath at her. Nightshade activated her jet boosters and flew into the air, just high enough to avoid the fiery explosion that blew up the top level of the pyramid. She angled her wings forward and shot a few missile darts. They exploded in the dragon's face. Not enough to kill it, as its scales were highly resistant to dragon fire-much less a few tiny missile detonations-but it enraged the beast enough to make it shoot at her.

Nightshade grunted as the dragon slammed its head into her and they both went flying into the sky. The force of the wind kept her pressed up against its head and she used every ounce of her strength to hold onto Gandiva. The Amphithere flicked its head and tossed her off before coming up at her with its jaws open.

For a moment, time seemed to slow down. Nightshade was in free fall above the open jaws of the dragon, and she was in the perfect position to use her new weapon. She angled her body so that she was looking down at the gaping maw of the Amphithere and aimed Gandiva at its head. She closed her eyes and pulled the string back. When she felt the heat of its breath on her body, Nightshade released the arrow.

And the sound of thunder rumbled across the sky.

XXXXXXXX

Optimus and Jazz sat in the med lab waiting for Ratchet to work on their wounds. Their whole bodies ached, but aside from a few dents in their armor, a fractured hand in Optimus's case-courtesy of punching a dragon with the same hand-and multiple burns, they were in better shape than the mangled form of Megatron, who honestly had it worst than them.

"So," Jazz said. "That was one hell of a mission. Not sure if I want something like that again in my lifetime."

"No arguments from me on that front, Jazz." Optimus said, nursing his stinging right hand. "Though, we have other concerns right now."

"Like that fancy weapon Nightshade showed off? How can I forget that after seeing her blow the head off a dragon?" Jazz chuckled.

Indeed it was an awe inspiring sight. Nightshade had fired a single shot from the bow and blew off the head, and much of the upper body, of the Amphithere dragon. The sound was like a thunderclap, greater than anything Blackout could produce and surpassed only by natural lightning. Once the dragon was dead, Nightshade retrieved Megatron and they took a ground bridge out of the city.

Optimus was glad that she didn't seek to fight them herself and took Megatron's condition as her top priority. They were all wounded, and even with her new weapon, no one would've made it out in piece. Still…the feeling he got from that bow. It was disturbingly similar to the barely noticeable feeling he got when standing near Mjolnir. Could it be that these supposedly mythical weapons were made by the same creator?

He had no idea, but the more he learned about this world, the more he wondered if they were the first visitors from the stars to grace this world. There was certainly more to Terra that met the eye.


	22. Memory Lane

Chapter 22-Memory Lane

 **Cybertron, Luna-2**

 _The machine world of Cybertron has two moons; Luna-1 and Luna-2. Unlike most other moons, the two lunas were their own little worlds. Each moon had its own gravity and atmosphere, and was much less populated than Cybertron. They also had no massive, sprawling metropolis' that took up most of the surface. No the two moons were largely unimpressive compared to everything Cybertron had to offer, but for the Minicons who lived on these moons, it was home and nothing more._

 _D-Va sat on a metal outcropping that overlooked a small canyon not too far from her home village, looking up at the sky. She had sat there for nearly an hour just staring up at Cybertron in thought._

" _Here you are."_

 _A Minicon walked up to her and hugged her shoulders. He was a silver mech with appointed, angled body that was streamlined for his airborne alt mode. His clear yellow visor reflected the light of the stars and Cybertron above as he sat next to his lover._

" _I was wondering where you were." Overrun said. "What's wrong?"_

" _Nothing, just thinking." She said._

" _About what?"_

" _About…stuff. It's getting chaotic on Cybertron. I just heard that Zeta Prime is dead." D-Va explained. "Energon is in such short supply these days and now we have a war to worry about."_

 _Overrun sat down next to her and rubbed her shoulders to provide some comfort. D-Va liked to put on a brave face, but she had a habit of hiding her true emotions under a mask of indifference or a smile. It was something he still was trying to get her to stop._

" _We'll be safe up here," He promised. "Sparkplug and I are talking with the Autobot leader for some support on the moons."_

" _Are you sure we should trust him, Overrun? He's a Prime, and those slagheaps aren't exactly role models for the protoforms."_

" _Don't worry, D-Va. Optimus Prime is the real thing. He's a mech of the people who might actually show us the respect we deserve."_

 _D-Va was still skeptical, but conceded anyway. Minicons were often treated like scrap before and after the reign of Sentinel Prime, and barely anything changed when Zeta Prime came into the picture. By then, much of the Minicon community on the twin moons had retracted from cybertronian society completely, watching as the planet of the giants devolved into chaos and war. She saw no harm in being skeptical of this new Prime who suddenly gave a damn about them._

" _D-Va," Overrun said. "We can't keep hiding up here forever. Sooner or later we'll need to seek help from the Bulks, and I rather it be from the Autobots, then have the Decepticons knocking on our door."_

 _D-Va made a noise of discouragement._

" _Do you trust me?" He asked._

" _Of course I do." She answered. "Now and forever."_

 _XXXXXXXXX_

Darren never considered himself to be knowledgeable about how people were feeling, nor did he know when they were feeling a certain way. But he did notice how D-Va was feeling over the past few days. The pink Minicon looked sad and depressed ever since they got back from their mission in Egyptia.

It was a quiet day in the Ark for once. Some of the Autobots were either out on recon, or spending time doing their own thing in the ship. D-Va was sitting on her recharge slab in the Minicon barracks looking down at some disc shaped device in her hands. Darren stood outside the room looking at her worried. He wanted to ask what was wrong, but he had a feeling that she wouldn't give him a straight answer.

"Darren?" Sparkplug walked up to him. "What are you doing?"

"Spying on D-Va." He answered.

"And you think that is a good idea because…?"

"I'm worried about her, Sparkplug. She's been gloom and doom ever since the last retrieval mission." Darren sighed. "I just want to see what's bothering her."

"Darren, you know that she'll tell us when she's ready." Sparkplug said.

"No she won't." Darren replied. Sparkplug sighed.

"Yeah, you're right." He peeked inside the room, and upon seeing what D-Va was doing, nodded in realization. "So that's what has her so down."

"What is it?"

Sparkplug took Darren's hand and led him away from the living quarters. Once they were far enough away, Sparkplug took out a small device and pressed a button on the side. Darren flinched back when he saw the device open up and reveal a holo-image of a grey Minicon with wings on his back.

"Who's that?" Darren asked.

"My best friend, Overrun." Sparkplug answered sadly. "He was the representative of the Minicon race living on Cybertron's two moons. Overrun was an advocate for Minicon rights during pre-war Cybertron. He was the previous leader before me-and he was D-Va's conjux endura."

"A conjux endura?"

"It's our version of a spouse, sort of like a married couple in human terms." He explained. "Optimus and Ironhide have their own conjux endura back on Cybertron, and Overrun was D-Va's lover as well. "

This was all news to Darren but from the tone Sparkplug was speaking in, he knew that he wasn't going to like what he was going to hear next. "What happened to Overrun?"

"He was killed in a Minicon raid on his village, Tesarus Minor. No one was expecting it. The Cons came out of nowhere and completely leveled the place without mercy. Only two bots made it out of the carnage, D-Va and Leader-1."

"Leader-1 lived there?"

"Yes, which makes it all the more puzzling for him to join the Decepticons after they destroyed his home." Sparkplug sighed. "I don't know what to think anymore. But back to the topic at hand, I think D-Va is just feeling a bit home sick lately. We're all feeling a bit out of juice with everything that's been going on recently."

Darren nodded. It was a taxing job trying to coordinate a whole sip's worth of refugees while at the same time hoping that the next Minicon they bring on board isn't a Decepticon in disguise. He had no idea how Sparkplug did it and not look like Ratchet on a bad day.

"Do you think the Autobots feel homesick to?" He asked. He thought of Arcee and all the pain she went through early on in the war.

"I'm sure of it. Even though they don't show it, I think they miss Cybertron more than any of us." Sparkplug said. Then he mentally added, 'And none more so than Optimus himself.'

XXXXXXXXX

High Wire entered the little control room that was designated as Liftor and Rollbar's workshop and came upon a strange sight. Jolt was standing on top of a crate with his arms outstretched. Rollbar was measuring his arms and legs, as well as his waist. Gina was sitting in the corner looking through a microscope that was hooked up to the computer.

"What did I just walk into?" High Wire asked.

"We're doing measurements." Rollbar said.

"Okay," High Wire nodded. When Rollbar didn't elaborate, he had to ask, "Measurements for what?"

"The kids of course." Rollbar replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "We're building exo-suits for them."

High Wire looked at him, then at Liftor who was looking at anything but him, then at Jolt, who raised his hands as a sign of surrender. "What?"

"Yeah. Gina convinced us to build some powered exoskeletons for her and the twins." He continued. He didn't even care that High Wire was losing his patience with him. "She said that she wanted to be ready in case you guys were taken out of the picture and stuff."

High Wire looked at Gina again. "Gina, is this true?"

Gina didn't answer for a moment and High Wire had to call her again in order to get her response. "Yes, High Wire. I wanted to give us a way to protect ourselves in case you, Grindor and Sureshock got taken out again."

"That's not your choice to make. We're protecting you. Isn't that enough?" He asked her. It was insulting for her to think that they weren't keeping them safe. And after everything they've been through as well.

Gina sighed and sat back in her seat. She looked back at him with tired eyes. "High Wire, you have kept us safe. But let's face it. We're just dead weight. If Centurion goes down, then we only have Darren to rely on. And I'm not keen on having Darren knock himself unconscious trying to protect us."

She came up with the initial concept of exo-suits that not only increased their physical abilities but also kept them save from external threats. It was still in the designing and testing phase, but Gina was working on making three, and only three, suits for herself, Darren and Annie to wear during retrieval missions. She didn't want to be dead weight while Darren risked his life trying to keep her and Annie safe.

"I'm sorry if I offended you High Wire, but it's just something to give me some piece of mind." Gina said. "We can't rely on you three and Darren all the time. Especially after what happened to Darren and Annie with OZ."

High Wire winced at that. It was a sensitive subject for him, failing the one job he swore on his spark to do correctly. But seeing that Gina didn't mean for the notion to be insulting lessened the sting. With a heavy sigh, he nodded his consent.

"Very well, Gina," He said. "I'll trust your judgment."

Gina had a feeling that he wasn't totally okay with it but decided not to say anything. All that mattered was that he knew that she only had everyone's best interests at heart.

"You trust is all I need, High Wire. And don't worry," Gina smiled. "Knowing our luck, you'll still be coming to our rescue."

At that moment, Annie ran into the room, huffing as she stopped short of ramming into Jolt and the others.

"Damn Annie, what's the rush?" Jolt asked.

"We've got another Minicon activation." Annie panted. She held up a finger to signal them to give her a moment. "God that was a long run. You'll never guess where this one is located."

Gina raised a delicate eyebrow. "Where?"

XXXXXXXX

"Transylvania?" Darren said with wide eyes. Optimus nodded.

"Yes. Teletran-1 has detected the next panel in Europa, in a province in Dalmasca." He said. "The signal is faint but we've managed to trace it back to a small area in the country side far from human habitation."

"Sweet! We get to see Dracula's castle!" Annie cheered.

"Annie, that was in the movies. Vlad Dracul was the lord of the neighboring province." Darren said. Anne waved her brother off.

"Who cares about the details. Let's get a move on already!"

"Optimus," Prowl stepped up to the table. "May I lead this mission? You and Jazz still need to recover from the last mission you two had."

"Yes. You still have to heal from that encounter with the dragon." Ratchet said from his place by the computer.

"The least you could've done is gotten some pictures of the dragon. I bet it was so cool." Annie complained. When she heard that Optimus and Jazz fought a dragon in India, she was practically jumping off the walls in excitement-until she learned that neither of them had gotten any sort of picture or video of the legendary beast.

"I'm sorry, Annie. We were too busy trying not to get snapped in half by a giant lizard." Jazz said.

"You may lead the mission Prowl," Optimus said. "Though I wish to know why you want to go. You never volunteer for a mission up front."

Prowl looked down at the Minicons with his usual calculating gaze, his mind running a mile a minute. "I just feel that mobility and strategy are what's needed on this mission, that's all."

XXXXXXXX

Leader-1 sat on a rock watching Starscream once again show he was the top dog over his Seekers so that Blackout would not supersede him with common sense. Between that scrapheap and Zapmaster constantly acting like a glitch ridden protoform, he was not having a good time. But he knew that things would get good soon. All he needed was to wait for his little spy to make her move.

" _Leader-1,"_ Well speak of the Devil. " _It's me. The Autobots are on the move for the panel."_

"It's about damn time. How many are coming?" He asked.

" _Four. Bulkhead, Arcee and Bumblebee. Prowl is leading the team."_

"And what about the kids? Are they coming?" Leader-1 noted how excited he sounded upon asking, but ignored it.

"… _Yes. They are coming along to search for the panel, and the Street Action Team is providing support with Tracer as well."_

"A combiner team and an outlier. Very quaint." He muttered. "Looks like it's time to mobilize." He turned to Zapmaster, who was chatting with Blackout's partner, Cannon. "Zapmaster! Tell that moron you call a partner that the Autobots are coming! You and Cannon are with me."

"What are we doing?" Cannon asked.

"What do you think?" Leader-1 questioned harshly. "We're going to liberate our sleeping comrade."

XXXXXXXX

D-Va stood on the edge of a cliff overlooking the Romanian countryside. The deed was done, and now all that was left was to wait. She sighed and ran her hand down her face. What was she doing? Never in her life had she felt any ounce of regret or hesitation the whole time she had played both friend and foe. So why now?

D-Va knew that everything she had done, all the backstabbing, the killing, the lives she had put in danger, would get her a first class seat on the flight to hell. She did it for the Minicons who were wrongfully killed behind the backs of those so-called Autobots. She did it for Overrun. But…what would he think if he knew of all the things she had done in the name of revenge?

'Primus, I'm pathetic.' She thought bitterly. 'I talk a big game but when it matters the most I start to chicken out. Why am I acting like this?'

"D-Va?" She turned around to see Darren walking up to her. "The Bots are moving out. You ready?"

"Yeah, I'm ready." D-Va said, though she didn't sound very convincing.

"You don't look ready." He said. "We need you focused for his mission."

"I know, I know. I just," Shr sighed. "Have a lot on my mind."

Darren looked at her. "Is it…Overrun?"

"How do you know that?" D-Va asked sharply.

"Sparkplug told me after I caught you staring at your holo-display."

D-Va made a mental note to punch Sparkplug in the face. "Fine, it's Overrun. You happy? He's been on my mind lately."

Darren rubbed the back of his head. He had no idea how to really talk to someone who'd lost a spouse, and he wasn't really the type who knew the right words to say. But he did know the feeling of losing someone to circumstances beyond your control.

"D-Va, far be it from me to try to comfort you, since I have no idea what it's like to lose a g-girlfriend," He reddened at that part. "But I do know what it's like to lose someone close to you. I don't really know what's wrong but if you need someone to talk to I'm here."

D-Va stared at him for a few moments before smiling. "Thanks. It's nothing serious, it's just that I kind of miss him. I know dwelling in the past isn't healthy for me, but I would get a bit…weepy as you humans call it when I'm left alone with my thoughts."

"Sparkplug told me that he died from a surprise attack on your village. Only you and Leader-1 survived the massacre." Darren said. He saw D-Va's hands clench a bit before loosening,

"He certainly told you a lot. Yes, I lived in the same village as Leader-1. Back then he wasn't such a piece of garbage like he is now." She said. D-Va gave him a wry smile. "Try not to mention that we were buds, alright? I'm pretty sure some of the Autobots would not be as understanding as you."

"Your secret is safe with me." He smiled. When D-Va continued to start at him, he grew a little uncomfortable. "What?"

"You remind me of him a bit. Overrun I mean." She told him. "He was always trying to help people even when he didn't know what was wrong. It was something he was known for."

"Uh," Darren didn't know what to say to this unexpected confession. "T-thanks."

"It's also what got him killed in the end. By the very Bulks that he preached cooperation for." She added. "Don't be like Overrun, Darren. You'll live a longer life that way."

XXXXXXXXX

The Autobots had followed the signal to a large castle that sat on a natural cliff. It was large, the size of a convent with the obvious gothic style that led to inspiration for the basis of Vlad's character, Dracula. It was built to instill fear and awe into all who went near it, its design meant to send a message to people that this was the home of Vlad Dracul, one of history's bloodiest warlords.

Bulkhead whistled at the size of the castle. "Someone was compensating for something."

"No kidding." Bumblebee said. "So where do we go?"

Prowl checked the scanner. "The Minicon is located somewhere down in the lower levels. And since we're too big to go anywhere but the courtyard, it falls on the children to explore the area for us."

"We're reading and waiting, Prowl." Gina saluted.

Centurion and D-Va led the kids into the castle grounds. Prowl looked at Tracer, who was sitting on his shoulder.

"Tracer, go with them." He said.

"What? But I want to go with you!" She pouted. "I can help you all fight."

"I know. But you're helping me more by making sure that the kids stay safe from any Decepticon Minicons they might encounter." Prowl looked at his companions and whispered. "And I want you to keep an eye on the Street Team and D-Va for me. Monitor anything that you might find unusual, no matter how small and maintain contact with me. Can you do that?"

"Sure thing, Prowler!" Tracer chirped. She didn't know why he wanted her to watch them, but if Prowl said so then it must be important. "You can count on me."

Prowl allowed a small smile to sprout. He was a bit uncomfortable relying on a Minicon for help considering one was already a spy, but Tracer had proven herself to be very loyal to the Autobot cause-or at least loyal to him. Optimus would be against him sending others to spy on their own teammates, but that was why he didn't tell Prime. He wasn't willing to go that extra mile to ensure that they stay focused on the mission at hand, and that was what Prowl was for. To do what more vocal bots like Optimus and Ultra Magnus didn't have to the luxury to do in order to get the job done.

"Alright Autobots," Prowl said after setting Tracer down. "While the kids and Minicons are exploring the castle, we're going to search the perimeter of the castle. Arcee and Bulkhead will search the west and south sides, while Bumblebee and myself will search the north and west sides. Stay sharp and if you see anything, give us a call. Let's move!"

"Well I certainly missed working under him." Bulkhead grumbled. He was not a fan of Prowl's rigid style of commanding. Bulkhead looked down at Annie. "You kids be careful now. You here?"

"Got it, Bulk." Annie grinned. "Don't worry. Maybe I'll even get you one of Vlad's torture machines as well for a souvenir."

"Torture machines?" Bulkhead said perplexed.

D-Va watched the kids say goodbye to the Autobots before heading into the courtyard. She glanced at the vast land that lay before the castle. She exhaled sharply and followed her companions into the home of a man seen by many as a demon.

"You think the Cons detected the signal yet?" Tracer asked. Gina adjusted her glasses as she looked up at a stone statue of a warrior on horseback with a spear jammed into his ribcage.

"Judging from past encounters," She said. "I'd say that they're probably already here."

And from the top of the tallest tower, inside what was once a castle library, Leader-1 stood in the window looking down at the clueless Autobots. This was going to be fun.

XXXXXXX

Sky Spy led the Minicon/human team into the castle, where they found themselves in a massive throne room that had old, rusted over knight armors lining the walls and a chandelier that looked like it was about to fall at the slightest jolt.

"Where to now?" Annie asked.

Gina watched Sky Spy fly around the room before swooping past them and into a small alcove. It landed in the doorway and jerked its head up and down. The kids took it as a sign that the panel was inside, but as they got closer, they saw that there was nothing there.

"What the hell?" Annie frowned.

"There's nothing here." Tracer said. She glared down at Sky Spy. "Stop wasting our time and tell us where the panel is!"

"Maybe he just made a mistake." Centurion intoned. Gina shook her head.

"Spy Spy is never wrong about anything. It's never lead us astray before." Gina frowned. "There's something that we're missing here."

Darren narrowed his eyes. He ran his hands along the wall of the alcove. An idea popped into his head and he pressed his ear against the wall.

"Darren? What are you doing?" D-Va asked.

Darren shushed her and tapped his knuckles against the wall. Instead of a dull thump, he actually heard a lighter thud, similar to when you knock on something hollow.

"There it is." He smiled. "I think the wall is hollow."

"Say what?" Tracer gaped. "No way."

"Actually that might be true. A lot of these old medieval castles have hidden chambers and passage ways hidden in plain sight." Gina said. "They can either be secret escape routes or just little places where nobles would hide their valuables from prying eyes."

"Well what are waiting for? Centurion!" Annie said.

They stepped back as Centurion walked forward and fired his wrist cannon at the wall. The ancient stone wall stood no chance to the pulse cannon and exploded in a shower of dust and stone, getting blown inwards. When the dust cleared, instead the other side of the alcove, they saw a long staircase leading at least a foot down into a second floor beneath the castle.

"Nice work." D-Va praised him. Darren smiled.

"Come on. We've got work to do."

XXXXXXXXX

"I'm not liking this." Bulkhead said.

"Not liking what?" Arcee asked.

"The silence. We've been here for half an hour and there's been no sign of the Cons. It's got me antsy." Bulkhead grumbled.

Arcee patted his arm. "Well, let's just be on our guard. With any luck, maybe we'll get a break this time."

Her wish was not granted as three missiles hit the ground in front of them. In an instant they were alert and drew their weapons, pointing them at the sky. Blackout and Skywarp appeared in the air above them, firing their weapons at the Autobots. Arcee and Bulkhead returned fire, though they were forced to find cover behind a wall to avoid the heavy bombardment of missiles raining down on them.

"Of course," Bulkhead grunted as a missile hit his shoulder. He looked up just in time to see Skywarp teleport behind them. "Move!"

Arcee jumped to the side and fired at the Seeker, but she was forced to break contact when Blackout fired at her. "He's laying down cover for Skywarp! We can't fight like this!"

"Call Prowl. I'll deal with these clowns." Bulkhead said.

He ran out into the open and fired his blaster at Blackout. He ignored the missiles and ceramic bullets hitting his body as he shifted his hand into his signature wrecking ball and shot it like a cannon from his arm. The wrecking ball hit Blackout in the nose, denting the cockpit of his alt mode and dazing him long enough for Bulkhead to shoot his tail rotor.

"Why is it always the tail?!" Blackout growled as he spun around in a circle.

As he descended towards the ground, he was able to direct his falling form towards Bulkhead. When he was closer to the ground, he transformed and slammed into the green Autobot, bringing them both down. Bulkhead kicked him off and tried to punch him, but Blackout caught his fist and shot him in the face with his auto-cannon. This blinded Bulkhead with a hail of bullets and forced him back, allowing the Con to grab his arm and, in an amazing feat of strength, lift him up and throw him over his shoulder into the ground.

Arcee wasn't having as much luck with Skywarp either. The Seeker, for all his faults and general lack of intelligence, certainly knew how to use his powers in battle. Fortunately for her, he was rather predictable in his attacks. When Skywarp appeared behind her, Arcee spun around and shot his left wing clean off. Skywarp immediately went out of balance and descended towards the ground. But he transformed and teleported out of the air and right in front of Arcee.

Skywarp kicked the blaster from her hand and rushed her. She peddled back and deflected a few punches from him and landed a spin kick to the side of his head. When he tried to shoot at her with his arm cannons, she drew her swords and swung them in an expert move that left a deep gash on his right arm and sliced off the barrel of one of his cannons.

"You should know better than to take me on in physical combat." Arcee said. Skywarp smirked.

"I know. That's why I choose not to play fair." He replied.

Skywarp warped out of sight just as she slashed at him again. He reappeared behind her just a few feet in the air. He switched to robot mode and propelled himself forward, zooming over her and dropping cluster bombs on her. Arcee dodge half of them, but some detonated on her body, destroying one sword and engulfing her in large explosions.

"Damn!" She cursed. She called Prowl and Bumblebee. "Prowl, Bee! Where the hell are you? We've got Cons on us!"

" _We have a bit of a problem on our end to, Cee."_ Bumblebee answered back.

On the other side of the castle, near the southernmost wall, Prowl and Bumblebee were pinned down in a small crevice as Starscream and Thundercracker were laying heavy fire down on them. The two Seekers were not holding back as they laid on heavy artillery on the two Autobots.

"Don't let up, Thundercracker!" Starscream said. "Keep firing and don't give them a chance to fight back!"

"You got it, boss!" Thundercracker obeyed the order without question. Normally they would fight the enemy head on, like true warriors. But Starscream had changed their plans when Prowl was brought into the equation. Starscream figured that by putting pressure on the famous Autobot tactician, then he wouldn't be able to outsmart them (Because let's face it, Prowl was definitely smarter than these two).

Prowl cursed as he ducked under a missile that was fired at him. He and Bumblebee had tried to get out of their position but the near endless amount of missiles and bullets kept them pinned down inside a cramped hole in the ground.

"We have to move!" Prowl said. "Arcee and Bulkhead are in trouble."

"So are we!" Bumblebee said.

Prowl saw Thundercracker fly overhead and thought of a plan. "Bee, can you hit SThundercracker from this angle?"

Bumblebee thought for a second. As a scout, his visual acuity was very acute, enough to see far away objects-or fast moving targets. "I think I can, but only if he's close enough."

"Leave it to me." Prowl poked his head out and changed the clip on his gun. Targeting the blue Seeker, Prowl fired a couple of rounds of acidic pellets at him.

Thundercracker grunted as he felt the pellets hit his armor as he swopped down low. He heard his armor hissing as the acid ate away at his metal skin and let out a curse. He was so preoccupied with his growing injury that he failed to notice Bumblebee taking aim until Starscream let out a warning.

"Thundercracker, move!" He shouted.

Thundercracker was slow to react as Bumblebee fired his blaster, hitting the Seeker's underside in one shot and knocking him out of the sky. Starscream growled and dived towards the Autobots, firing his guns nonstop.

"Filthy Autobots!"

"Slag," Prowl said, not expecting this. "Bee, we need to move!"

They jumped out of their hole but were blasted off their feet by two missiles that Starscream shot at them. Bumblebee landed in a smoking heap a few feet away, but Prowl wasn't so lucky. Starscream had switched to robot mode and was firing his arm cannons at the Autobot, riddling him with bullet holes that pierced his armor and damaged his components inside. Starscream didn't stop his descent, rather he fired up the boosters in his feet to increase his speed and before Prowl knew it, the Seeker had crashed into him with such force that he was sent slamming into the ground hard enough to make a crater in the soft dirt.

Starscream flipped off the half buried Autobot and fell on his back outside the crater, shaken but still in one piece. But Prowl was stuck in the crater, his lower body buried in dirt and knock offline from the high impact. When he saw Bumblebee he grinned and stood up.

"That's one down and one to go." He said calmly. "Now I remember that I still haven't paid you back for that stunt you pulled back in Prague."

"Well, feel free to come and get some. I guarantee that you won't get a shot off me." Bumblebee said.

Bumblebee knew that this was not going to be an easy fight, but he wasn't backing down now.

XXXXXXXX

The little band of children and Minicons entered the lower chamber, which was much more gruesome than they had anticipated. The room they were in was full of torture devises-guillotines, iron maidens, wooden horses. And judging from the dried blood on some of them, they were used a lot by the castle's owner.

"Wow," Annie said. "This place looks like the set of a horror movie."

Tracer looked closer at a skeleton that was sitting on top of a large wooden spike that was jutting up through its pelvis, ribcage and collarbone. She grimaced as she visualized what this might look like if the person was alive.

"How can anyone do this to other humans?" Centurion asked with a frown.

"Vlad Dracul was a terrible man." Gina told him. "He loved torturing people who crossed him, be they enemy soldier or peasant. The things he did to them were legendary, namely impaling prisoners on spikes and watching them die."

"That doesn't look like a quick death." D-Va noted.

"It's not supposed to be." Darren said. "You were lucky if the spike pierced anything vital and killed you on the spot, but usually it took hours for them to die. Vlad was so evil that the locals saw him as a living demon. God knows he fights like one."

"And that was how Dracula was born." Annie said. Darren sighed.

"For the last time, Annie, Dracula doesn't exi-"

A loud boom caused the room to shake. Centurion, Tracer and D-Va got on guard as they heard faint explosions going on up top.

"Looks like the Cons decided to pay us a visit." Darren said. He turned to Gina. "Gina, where is that panel?"

Gina looked down at the scanner and saw-nothing. She wasn't getting any readings or alerts. Sky Spy didn't detect anything either. The blonde frowned as she told the others what happened.

"What do you mean that it's gone?" Tracer asked.

"That's just it. I'm not getting any readings. We were close but now it's just…vanished."

"What the hell do we go now?" Annie growled. The Bots were getting attack upstairs and here they were doing nothing!

"Uh…" Darren gritted his teeth as he and Gina began to lose their cool. What could they do now? Then they heard an explosion go on the upper level, near the entrance to the alcove.

"I think the Mini-Cons are here." He said.

Centurion looked down at the kids. "Stay here and look for the panel. We will go and fight them off."

Without waiting for confirmation from the children, Centurion ran back up the stairs towards danger. Tracer gave the kids a sympathetic look and ran after him, with D-Va taking the rear.

Centurion ran out of the alcove and looked around for the source of the explosion. He saw that multiple holes were blown in the walls and floor, signs of blaster fire.

"It's about time you came back up." Leader-1 said. He was lounging on the throne, looking at the gestalt coolly. "I thought I was going to have to go down myself to get you. Thank Primus I didn't have to resort to that."

Tracer appeared behind Leader-1, her pulse cannon pointed at his head. "Where is the panel? We know you have it."

"Had it-past tense." He said coyly. He wasn't even concerned of getting his head blown off. "I had it, but now it's gone."

"So what happened to it?" Centurion growled.

The grin could practically be heard in Leader-1's voice. "Why don't you ask the Con who was inside it?"

A large golden ball shot down from the upper scaffolding and slammed into Centurion, crushing him into the ground. It ricocheted off a wall and hit him once again in the back, knocking him into a suit of armor. Tracer, momentarily distracted by the surprise attack, was hit in the shoulder by a laser blast the blasted her of her feet. She flipped through the air and landed before Leader-1, who was flanked by Cannon in tank mode.

"Meet the new addition to the Decepticons-Brahe." He said.

The ball crashed to the ground in front of Tracer and rolled to a stop. It was gold and black, and surrounded in an energy field that seemed to be the source of its bouncing ability. It broke apart and the round panels became the mech's arms and legs. They separated to reveal the Minicon's large body, which was nearly as tall as Centurion. His head was short, almost built into his torso, with slanted yellow eyes and a large lock jaw similar to Bulkhead's.

"That was fun." Brahe grunted. "Me do it again!"

"In a moment, Brahe. I need to do my monologue first." Leader-1 said. He stood up and walked up to Tracer and the damaged Centurion, with Cannon rolling up beside him. "This is Brahe. He's a veteran gladiator from Tarn-a city of warriors. He may be a bit thick in the head, but he's durable enough to take anything you can dish out at him."

"Don't get too full of yourself. You haven't won yet." Tracer said.

"Actually I have. Now I'm just throwing it in your faces, before I personally have you all dismantled." He replied.

"You and what army?" Centurion growled.

"Not me. Her."

Centurion cried out as he was hit with a powerful beam that shattered his form and his components fell to the floor in a disoriented heap. D-Va stood over them, her left arm a neutron cannon that was crackling with energy.

"D-Va! What are you doing?" Tracer exclaimed.

"What I need to do." She replied.

XXXXXXXX

Bulkhead and Blackout grappled each other with a deadlock trying to overpower one another. Though they were the same size and bulk, the green Autobot was much stronger, lifting the Con over his head with a yell and throwing him at the castle wall, sending Blackout crashing into the courtyard and rolling across the ground. Blackout jumped to his feet and took out his tail rotor, holding it by the handle and having it spin rapidly. He slashed at Bulkhead, almost getting his throat cut by the sharp blades.

Bulkhead slammed his wrecking ball into Blackout's blades and caused a shockwave that knocked both of them back. Blackout was the first on his feet, but he took a titanium wrecking ball to the face that jumbled his processor and sent him stumbling back. Another blow to his head had knocked him out and he crashed to the ground.

"Whoo. That was tougher than I thought it would be." Bulkhead said. "Arcee. How are things on your end?"

He got his answer in the appearance of Skywarp in front of him with Arcee on his back giving him a chokehold. The Seeker tried to throw her off, but she held tight onto him and she put as much strength into her hold as possible. Skywarp gagged as his vocal processor was on the verge of getting crushed and in a panic, he tried to teleport as many times as possible within a short span of time. Bulkhead tried to follow them with his eyes but he couldn't keep track of the teleporting Seeker.

Then he heard the deafening sound of jet engines from above. He looked up and saw Starscream flying towards them with Bumblebee hanging onto his back. The scout was holding on tightly to the Seeker's wings and wasn't letting go anytime soon.

"Get off me you pest!" Starscream yelled.

"Make me, Screamer!" Bumblebee shouted.

Bulkhead saw them fly around haphazardly like Jetfire after chugging down a few gallons of Engex before Starscream shot up into the air and then began shooting towards the castle-more specifically the courtyard. Where Bulkhead was. At speeds that would turn an aircraft into a free falling missile.

"Why me?" Bulkhead groaned.

XXXXXXXX

Tracer was not in a good position right now. She was stuck in the middle of a spider's web of enemies, including the supposedly turn coat D-Va. The pink Minicon had her photon cannon pointed at her, but she made no moves to fire.

"D-Va please, don't do this. Whatever the Cons promised you, it isn't worth betraying your friends." Tracer pleaded. D-Va scowled.

"I can't betray a faction that I never had any faith in." She replied. "I am loyal to only one side and that is the Minicons. Or did you all forget that after spending so much time with those damn Autobots!"

"Don't do this, D-Va." High Wire grunted. The forced separation had hurt him a lot. Sureshock was still trying to gather herself and Grindor, who had taken the blunt of the blast, was in stasis from system damage. "You have nothing to gain from working for Leader-1. He's just going to use you and toss you away like trash."

"Shut up!" D-Va shouted and kicked him in the face. She was then hit in the head by a flying stone that knocked her over.

"D-VA!" Darren shouted as he ran into the throne room, large stones orbiting his body. Annie and Gina were trailing behind him, staying out of the line of fire.

Cannon swerved his tank barrel and fired at Darren. The boy rolled to the side and flicked his fingers. One of the stones dissolved into a hail of high speed pellets that assaulted the Minicon. They hit Cannon's armor like small bullets, tearing into his form like metal shards from a shrapnel bomb. Tracer took this distraction to unleash her eletro-whips and slash them at Cannon. He grunted in pain as the sharp, thin whips cut into his tough body while shocking him at the same time. Tracer pulled hard and lifted his large body off the ground, using all of her strength to swung him and around and send him crashing through the window, out into the two story drop into the sea.

Leader-1 also transformed and fired twin lasers from his two cannons. Darren raised a rock wall to block the blasts and threw it at Leader-1 with a grunt. Leader-1 drove in reverse, shooting at Darren repeatedly. Darren erected a rock wall from the stones around him and began punching rocks at the Mini-Con. Leader-1 dodged most of them, but when one caught his wheel, he was sent spinning around out of control. Darren stomped his foot and Leader-1 felt himself get sent into the air and crashing into a stone pillar.

D-Va came charging at him. Darren held nothing back as he threw everything he had at her. He shot large force blasts that left deep holes in the ground, but she dodged without fail. Darren raised stone spike from the ground, threw rocks at her, even tried to knock her off balance, but D-Va knew that his skill was limited to his line of sight. As long as she was faster than his eyes, she could avoid most of his attacks.

She got in close faster than he can follow and was about to knock him out with her staff before Tracer appeared behind her and rammed into he. Both femmes fell to the ground, but Tracer wasted no time in wrapping her whip around her ankle and swung her whole body into the throne. Darren followed up with a force blast that destroyed the throne but D-Va flipped out of the way and leapt at them.

D-Va landed on the ground and fired her cannon at Tracer, hitting the femme in the chest and sending her crashing into the wall. Darren tried shooting a stone spike he pulled from the ground, but she ducked under it and grabbed his arm, slamming him into the ground and planting her foot on his chest.

"Darren!" Gina and Annie cried out.

D-Va pointed her photon cannon at him, but Darren was not afraid. His anger outweighed his own fear.

"Go ahead and do it." He growled. "Show us your true colors."

"I didn't choose to be this way, Darren." She said.

"We all have a choice." Darren replied.

Leader-1, who dug his way out of the pile of rocks he was buried under, limped over to her. "D-Va, we're on a tight schedule here."

"Shut up!" D-Va hissed. She fired a warning shot near his feet to show that she was not in the mood.

"How could you?" Darren asked. "How could you betray the Autobots after everything they've done for you?"

"You think the Autobots are any different than the Decepticons? Let me give you a dose of reality. Those Autobots you cherish so strongly, they all treated us Minicons like dirt! We were second class citizens before and after this goddamn war started!" D-Va shouted. "I'd gladly help the Cons wipe them out for all the slag they caused me!"

"The Cons wiped out your village and you're helping them?" Darren stared up at her wide eyed. Leader-1 began to laugh. "What's so funny?"

"Who said that it was the Decepticons that destroyed our village?" He said.

The entire room went quiet at that as the children and Tracer realized the implications of that statement. Brahe just looked confused. Darren looked up at D-Va and saw that the pink Minicon had a look of sadness on her face.

"It was after the Decepticons began raiding Cybertron's moons for Minicons to capture. They mostly attacked Luna-1, Sparkplug's home." She said softly. "Optimus Prime had sent a contingent of Autobots to guard our village from any surprise Decepticon attack."

"But the big wig didn't know that the squad leader was a bot who had prejudice against Minicons-animosity left over from the pre war days of the Senate, who used us as spies." Leader-1 said. "So you can imagine that he wasn't happy with the job."

XXXXXXXXX

 **Cybertron, Luna-1**

 _D-Va cursed as she narrowly avoided a proton missile that blew up the house next to her. Tesarus Minor, her home, was in flames. Minicons were running for their lives while member of the defense militia mobilize to combat the threat. Missiles rained down from the sky and demolished the area in a sea of flames and the sky was alight with explosions and the falling wreckage of bots that she knew on a dialy basis._

 _Luna-1 was under attack, and it wasn't from Decepticons. It was the Autobots._

" _D-Va!" Leader-1, a member of Luna-2's defense team, ran up to her._

" _Leader-1! What the hell is going on?" She asked._

" _Autobots," He said grimly. "They've invaded the eastern hemisphere of Luna-2 and they're attacking villages at random"_

" _Autobots? No, no they would never do that. They're supposed to protect us!" D-Va said._

" _Well it's true. And I think it's only one squad, but they're using heavy artillery to wipe out the villages faster." Leader-1 said. He got a call on his comm. "I need to go. Find Overrun and evacuate while you still can."_

 _Leader-1 transformed and drove down the street. D-Va also transformed, and she raced around the town trying to find Overrun. Her thoughts were jumbled and she didn't think to use her sensors to locate his signature nearby. But just as she turned a corner, she slammed into the heel of a Bulk. D-Va returned to robot mode and looked up at the mech._

 _He was tall, as all Bulks were, and was red and green with purple eyes. The Autobrand sat on his lower abdomen, clear as day as he fired his blaster at the Minicon flyers that were zipping around his head trying to bring him down._

" _Stupid little scraplets!" Joyride growled. He swatted a Minicon out of the sky, making the poor bot fall the ground before, to D-Va's horror, he stomped his foot on him. "I've had enough of you!"_

 _Then he noticed D-Va, who was standing there frozen in fear. Joyride grinned viciously as he spotted her and stomped towards her like an Omega Sentinel hunting down a primary target. The laser blasts and missiles fired from the flyers barely fazed him as he looked down at her._

" _Another one of you Minicons. Primus it's like you're breeding like those damn organic fleshies Prime preaches about." Joyride sneered. "I don't know why he wants us to protect you little creeps. It's slagheaps like you that got by buddy killed by the damn senate!"_

 _D-Va shook her head and tried to run, but the butt of Joyride's gun slammed in front of her, blocking her escape._

" _Don't even think about it. I came here with a job to do and I intend to do it with as little problems as possible." Joyride said. "So please, die for me."_

 _A powerful beam hit the side of his head, burning a hole in his cranium and shattering one of his optics in the process. Joyride reared his head back in pain, and D-Va looked up to see a silver plan coming towards her._

" _Overrun?"_

 _Overrun transformed and landed next to her. "Are you alright?"_

" _Overrun!" D-Va hugged him for dear life, scared out of her mind. "What's going on? Why are the Autobots attacking us?"_

" _I don't know, but this is not the place to be thinking about such questions. I have Leader-1 organizing an escape route out of the village near the main square." Overrun said. "Go there and-"_

" _Look out!"_

 _Overrun instinctively pushed D-Va out of the way as Joyride's hand backhanded him off the ground. He went crashing into a statue and fell to the ground. Joyride fired his blaster and destroyed the building next to him, causing huge pieces of rubble to fall on top of Overrun._

" _No!" D-Va ran to her lover and tried to dig him out as fast as she could. Overrun's lower body was pinned beneath large pieces of metal framework that kept him from moving._

" _It's no use." Overrun groaned, coughing up energon. "I can't feel my legs. Run while you still have a chance."_

" _NO! I am not leaving you!" She cried._

 _Joyride pointed his rifle at them but twin laser blasts once again hit him in the head. "Damn it! Where do you things keep coming from?"_

 _Leader-1 landed the hovercraft he was piloting and ran out of the vehicle to help his friends. He looked down at the damage and cursed. There was no way to get Overrun free in time. Not without doing some heavy lifting._

" _Leader-1," Overrun said. "Get D-Va out of here. Take far from this place. The village is lost."_

" _But what about you?" He asked. Overrun simply smiled._

" _It's too late for me. Just take her someplace safe."_

 _Leader-1 looked into the eyes of his former commander and nodded. He tried to take D-Va's arm but she shook him off._

" _No! I won't leave him!"_

" _We have to go." He said. He looked up and saw Joyride recovering. "Now!"_

" _No!" She said. Overrun touched her face and turned it towards him._

" _I don't care what happens to me. I can die in peace knowing that you're safe from this massacre." Overrun said. "Remember D-Va. I will always love you."_

 _D-Va stared at him in shock and did not move until Leader-1 grabbed her and pulled her onto his shoulder. She struggled to get free as they went towards the hovercraft, leaving Overrun in the rubble._

" _No! Overrun!" D-Va screamed._

 _She didn't take her eyes off him even as they boarded the hovercraft. She stared out the window as Joyride reached down and grabbed Overrun in his large hand. She watched as the Autobot glared down at the Minicon with a savage sneer on his face. And she watched as Joyride squeezed until Overrun was crushed to pieces in a shower of sparks and energon._

" _OVERRUN!"_

XXXXXXXXXX

The throne room was silent after D-Va finished relaying her story. Leader-1 looked oddly subdued, Tracer had a look of disbelief and horror on her face, and the Street Team were stunned speechless. But none were as horrified as the children, who looked like they just saw their whole world come crashing down around them.

"An Autobot did all that?" High Wire whispered. "But I thought that the official report was that Decepticons destroyed the villages due to Minicon agents."

"And who said all that?" D-Va growled.

"…Prowl." Tracer muttered.

"Exactly. The massacre didn't escape the attention of Autobot High Command, but it didn't reach the ears of bots like Ultra Magnus or Prime. No, it was Prowl who issued judgment on Joyride and his men." She continued. "But they weren't punished with death, or even imprisonment. They were deployed on some far off planet, far from the war, where they were never heard from again. They got off scott free for the murder of innocent Minicons. All because Prowl wanted to save face for the Autobots and make the Cons look bad." She glared down at Darren. "So you think the Decepticons are bad do you? Well know that the Autobots are no saints, especially not Prime. He's not one to talk, especially one who employs a mech like Prowl."

"N-no," Tracer shook her head. "Prowl would never do that! He's an Autobot. He may not be like Optimus, but that doesn't mean that he doesn't have our best interests-"

"PROWL IS A SCHEMER! HE IS NO DIFFERENT FROM SHOCKWAVE-A MECH WHO PUTS LOGIC ABOVE EMOTIONS!" D-Va roared. "He has done things that will make you hate him for the rest of your natural life, things that Optimus has willingly turned a blind eye to in order to further the Autobot cause. They've hurt me in the worst way possible and I will hurt them back where it hurts the most!"

D-Va shoved her cannon in Darren's face and powered up for a shot. Gina and Annie looked at her in horror. "So you're going to kill us just to get back at them?"

"…Yes." D-Va said. "They've become attached to you. They depend on you as much as you depend on them. I can't physically hurt them, but emotional scars run far deeper than physical ones."

Darren looked up at her with a gaze so intense that D-Va almost looked away. Not taking his green eyes from her violet ones, he said, "Before you shoot, I want to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"Is this really what you want?" He asked. "Do you think that this will make up for all the pain you've gone through?"

"No, but it will give me a sense of satisfaction." She replied.

"And when the feeling of victory fades, will you feel any different? Because I doubt that anything you do will bring Overrun back." Darren said. D-Va shoved her cannon in his face, close enough for him to feel the heat of the nozzle on his nose. "Did everything we've been through-all the laughter, games, stories, everything we've shared-really mean nothing to you?"

Her arm was shaking now. Her face scrunched up in anger and pain, and if she was human, tears would be streaming down her eyes right now.

"I know that you are angry, at the Autobots, at the world for what happened. But all the killing in the world won't bring back what you've lost." He went on. "And when you do finally see Overrun-do you think he will accept what you have done in response to his death?"

"Shut up!"

"Do you think he will be happy after learning what you did in his name?"

"I SAID SHUT UP!"

D-Va powered up her cannon and fired a blast that echoed throughout the throne room.

XXXXXXXX

"Ow," Prowl said as he climbed out of the crater. A hand appeared above him and he looked up to see Arcee.

"Need a hand?" She grinned.

"That and more." Prowl said. He took her hand and she helped him onto his feet. He groaned as he touched his chest plate, which was caved in and still aching from that dive bomb Starscream gave him. "What's our status?"

"Blackout, Skywarp and Starscream are out of commission. Thundercracker high tailed it out of here after his commander was taken out." Arcee said.

"How did you take out Skywarp?" Prowl asked. That was no easy feat to do, even for a cyber-ninja.

Arcee led him to the castle courtyard, where Bulkhead and Bumblebee were sitting. Starscream was unconscious on top of Skywarp, both looking like they got run over by Megatron's tank mode.

"He tried doing the same thing with Bumblebee to shake him off." Arcee said.

"But I tore off his wings and let him free fall towards Skywarp, who was nice enough to teleport right into my line of fire." Bumblebee grinned. Bulkhead punched his shoulder.

"And almost got Arcee and I slagged. You're lucky you're still in one piece considering that Screamer was going at Mach 1." Bulkhead said.

"Hey, I'm still here aren't I?" The scout said.

"Indeed Bumblebee, and you did a good job." Prowl smiled. He looked around. "Has anyone heard from the kids?"

The Autobots shook their heads and Arcee grew worried. "Maybe we should call in to see if they're okay." Arcee suggested.

"Don't bother."

They looked to the castle entrance and saw the kids and their guardians walking out through the wooden doors. High Wire and Grindor were helping a wounded Tracer walk, and Gina was aiding Darren, who was bruised and cut and walking with a limp. There was no sign of D-Va.

"What happened to you guys? Are you okay?" Bumblebee asked. He grew worried when they stayed silent. "Kids? What's wrong?"

"Did you find the Minicon?" Prowl asked. They all glared up at him with a fierceness that caught him off guard.

"We need to talk." Darren said.

XXXXXXXX

Optimus Prime, Prowl, Ironhide and Jazz sat in the Command Room with Sparkplug. They said nothing, still trying to process what the kids had just told them. Not only was there a spy among the Minicons, but D-Va was also a survivor of the Luna-2 massacre, which was caused by an Autobot. This issue had certainly made things tense among Prime's inner circle.

"I can't believe it." Ironhide said. "I knew that Joyride was a piece of slag, but I didn't think he would do something like this."

"I didn't think an Autobot would do something like this either." Sparkplug said tensely. He looked at Optimus. "Did you know, Prime?"

"No, Sparkplug," Optimus glared at Prowl. "I didn't. Why did you hide this information from me, Prowl?"

"I did it to maintain Autobot credibility and reputation. We were in the midst of a social breakdown Optimus, if the truth of the massacre got out, then the trust we've gained from the populace would've been lost." Prowl said. "If that happened the War for Cybertron would have been lost."

"So you went behind our backs and let them go? Don't make me laugh!" Ironhide growled. "You did what you always do, make your own decisions for the so-called greater good and controlled things from the shadows!"

"Any act of public discipline was counterproductive. I've sent Joyride and the rest of the guilty party to a hostile world where they will serve out their life sentence." Prowl replied. "It's a fitting punishment considering their crimes."

"But you still kept it all a secret. Even covering up the whole damn massacre!" Sparkplug lost his temper and glared up at Prowl. "You're no better than the senate and Legislators!"

"Don't you dare compare them to me!" Prowl growled in a rare show of anger. "What I've done is no different from you hiding the fact that you've stolen Combiner technology!"

"Now you're out of line Prowl." Jazz frowned.

"I did what I had to do to protect me people from abuse and slavery. And if that meant creating weapons to fight any Bulks, Autobot or Decepticon, then so be it." Sparkplug said. "And it seems that my fears were correct if this is how Autobot High Command acts in the face of genocide!"

"Enough!" Optimus said firmly. "What happened in the past cannot be changed, and arguing about it will not help anyone." He sighed and looked at his hands. "The reality is that D-Va's defection, followed by news of this covered up, will put major strain on our relations with the Minicons."

"And we have only one bot to thank for that." Ironhide glared at Prowl, who said nothing.

Things had changed for the Autobots, and none of it was good. Just when things were looking good for them, something like this came along and set them three steps back.

XXXXXXXXX

D-Va sat at the edge of a cliff looking over the countryside. She looked nothing like the pretty and confidant femme she was before this day. Now she looked tired and haggard, even her pink armor looked duller. Her eyes were blank and unseeing as she gazed out into the distance.

She didn't take the shot. She barely remembered the whole affair, but she did recall swinging her blaster arm around to shoot Leader-1 square in the chest, blowing off his arm and then spinning around to shoot the slow Brahe in the face, taking off half his face. D-Va had stared down at Darren, who looked back at her in surprise, before she transformed and drove out the castle without a word.

Why didn't she shoot? She wanted to badly to hurt the Autobots, to make them pay in the worst way possible for the injustice they had wrought upon her. Yes, the Autobots-but not the humans. They had helped the Minicons multiple times, even though that they had no obligation to do so. Three children who had went above and beyond to show them their world, to help them, protect them.

" _Do you think he will be happy after learning what you did in his name?"_

No, Overrun would be appalled at what she had done. He was no fan of violence, and the things she had done to her fellow Minicons would horrify him. But even though she had no quarrel with the children, she just couldn't forgive the Autobots for the inactivity they displayed in regards to this genocide.

She needed to be alone. For how long, she didn't know, but she just needed to be alone. D-Va looked up at the moon and prayed that the other Minicons would be safe-High Wire, Sureshock, Grindor, Road Storm…Tracer. She wished them and the children a happy future and that they survived this hellish war of theirs.

Having given her final thoughts, D-Va jumped off the cliff and transformed, driving off into the darkness. What happened to her now…only Primus knew.


	23. The Original Sin part 1

Chapter 23-The Original Sin part 1

Optimus Prime sat in the solitude of his office, which also doubled as his quarters. With no Minicons to find or Decepticon activity to counter, he had a rare moment to himself, which he took very seriously. Here, away from the eyes of his soldiers and good friends, he was able to shed his usual strong persona and sag a bit in his seat. The stress of his job as leader of the team and his status as the one true Prime caught up with him and he looked much older than he really was. So many responsibilities all piled together was enough to make even a long lived Cybertronian turn grey with stress, and he was no different.

His office was larger than the other Autobots' quarters on the Ark, but unlike them, his room didn't really have much save for a recharge slab, a Teletram-1 monitor, and a desk. Soft classical music could be heard coming from the terminal, something he had taken to listening to in his spare time. Old classical orchestra music really helped him wind down, especially Mozart, whom he frequently listened to.

On his desk were some holo-images, one of them being a photo that he recently took with the children while on recon. Darren and Annie sat on his shoulders doing silly faces while Gina posed on his hand. They all looked so happy that it pained him whenever he thought back to it. Things were so different now.

Things on the Ark had gotten tense as a result of D-Va's defection. The revelation of her status as a survivor of the Luna-1 massacre, as well as the truth behind the tragedy, had caused a schism between the Autobots and Minicons. The Minicons distrusted the Autobots even more now, and the cover up that Prowl had done in secret to save the Autobot name had led to a lot of heated arguments between the members of the team and their little partners. Even the Street Action Team looked at them with disdain now, questioning Optimus' command over his own bots. Honestly Ooptimus thought that this would have resulted in a revolt had it not been for one thing holding the Minicons back-the kids.

The children, who had went above and beyond for the Minicons time and time again, had went out of their way to persuade them not to make any drastic actions that might lead to bloodshed and a lot of hurt feelings. Despite having their original squeaky clean image of the Autobots dirtied by this revelation, they knew that it wasn't Team Prime's fault that the genocide happened. Darren had won them over with words that were well beyond his years.

"I know you're all hurting from this news, and you want someone to blame. I know that it was wrong for Prowl to do what he did, but please, don't blame Optimus or the rest of the team. They had nothing to do with this lie, and we all have seen how far they will go to make sure that each and every one of you will be safe from the Cons." Darren said. "I'm not expecting you to get over it, but we can't lose faith in them right now. They trust us, and we must trust them. if we lose trust in each other, then we're no different from the Decepticons."

The Minicons may have lost trust in the Autobots, but they still trusted the kids, if nothing else because they were in the same danger of being used as pawns as them. Sparkplug had managed to calm them all down, but aside from mechs like Jolt, Longarm and Liftor, they made sure to steer clear of the Bots. It was going to take a while to gain their trust again.

" _Optimus."_ Longarm's voice rang on the comm.

"Yes Longarm?"

" _Ratchet wants to see you in the med bay. He says it's urgent."_

Optimus narrowed his eyes. If the old medic says it's urgent, a term that he rarely used outside of battle, then it must be important. Though he wished that it didn't cut into his rest period. "Tell Ratchet that I'll be over there."

Ratchet gave a hum as he looked into his proton microscope at the little slide. His work table was littered with small shards of yellow crystal and stone, as well as a fine coating of dust. Longarm stood next to him glaring down at the mess. He knew he was going to clean that up.

"Ratchet," Optimus entered the med lab. "You wanted to see me?"

"Yes, Optimus, come in." Ratchet beckoned Optimus to come closer, leaning back in his seat and rubbing his tired eyes.

"How long have you been at this?" Optimus asked.

"A little over two hours. And before you chastise me on overworking like I'm Bumblebee, know that what I am doing here may save our lives in the future." The medic said.

Optimus looked at the messy lab table. "What is all this?"

"The remains of the beings that Bulkhead and Ironhide fought in Midgard."

The Prime looked at him surprised. "What?"

"Ratchet had Bulkhead and Ironhide take him to Midgard to retrieve what's left of the bodies." Longarm said. He kicked at a little crystal by his foot. "This was all we found in the temple. Most of the bodies had crumbled into dust."

"Which was infuriatingly convenient considering that I needed more than a couple of rocks to base my hypothesis on." Ratchet grumbled.

"Well, what did you learn from these samples?"

"To start off, I learned that these creatures are not just highly intelligent automatons animated by hephaestium. These beings are living organisms."

Ratchet pressed a button on is computer and brought up what looked like cells, but they were hard and crystalline. "What you see here is a picture of the crystal's genetic structure. See how the cells are hard like diamond, and prismatic? These cells act like tiny crystals, reflecting and refracting light that passes through them. clustered together, they can mimic the properties of stone. Add in the fact that they are supercharged by some form of energy binding them together, you have an extremely powerful being that can take some heavy damage."

Optimus processed this new information. He knew from the mission report that the beings known as Odin, Thor and Loki-if those were their real names-fed on the energy produced by the hephaestium inside the temple, making them resistant to physical damage and increasing their strength. They were powerful and hard to kill, even Annie admitted that she may have gotten lucky when she took Thor and Odin out with Mjolnir. Still, if they were as old as they say, then was there a chance that there were more?

He told Ratchet this and the doctor gave an uncertain shrug. "I can't say for sure. But seeing as these were silicon-based organisms living on a world harboring carbon-based life, then it would be accurate to say that they were not native to Terra. As for the question that there are more, well…knowing our luck I'd say that question will be answered on its own in the future."

"I hope that we can found out on our own terms, Ratchet." Optimus said. "If there are more of these…living statues, and they had dealings with ancient humans, then they might have had a hand in many myths and legends pertaining to humanity."

"Like Mjolnir."

"Yes."

The implications of such a theory were a bit unnerving. If indeed these stone beings had a hand in not only providing mankind with weapons that border the line between science and mysticism, then they harbored powers that they could scarcely imagine. The so-called "gods" of Midgard were only the first of many hidden beings that were awakened by the arrival of the Ark and Nemesis, and Optimus feared that they may have unleashed a greater threat upon Terra.

If this was what made the Matrix glow upon crashing upon Terra, then Optimus had to be prepared for the coming storm. If what Odin said was true, then he was not the only one, nor will he be the last to try to wipe this planet clean of any alien infestations-Autobot or Decepticon.

As if they didn't have enough on their plate to worry about as it is.

XXXXXXXXX

The kids were in the lounge of their wing of the Ark doing what they were always doing when there were no Minicons to save-nothing. Things were calm for once and they took the time to have some semblance of a normal life without having to deal with the stress of saving an entire race of people. Gina wanted to work with Wheeljack on the new exo-suits that he promised them, but they were put on hold for some reason that Wheeljack refused to divulge out of violent repercussions. After the whole debacle with D-Va in Dalmasca, Darren and Gina welcomed some much needed off time. As for Annie…

"I'm bored!" She groaned. Annie was sprawled across the couch in a less than lady like pose in her short skirt. She didn't care, she was tired and sharing a room with her brother, best girl friend and a bunch of genderless robots. Hell she could streak through the whole damn ship and no one would give a damn (one of these days she was going to try it).

"Annie," Darren said. "Please don't be a brat right now. We're not in the mood."

"Well excuse me for speaking my mind." Annie scowled. "There's nothing to do, and I'm getting tied wasting my free time at the ass end of the Ark doing nothing."

"Annie, if you want something to do, then go bother Bulkhead or Ironhide." Sureshock said patiently. "Your attitude is only making us agitated."

"So please shut up." Grindor said. Annie snatched a hammer from Gina's hand and threw it at his head. "Ow!"

"Say that again asshole!" She growled.

Gina sighed and shook her head. So much for getting her work done. "I need to start using my lab back home again. I can't work with those two yapping all day."

Darren looked at what she was working on. It was an egg shaped robot almost as tall as Centurion and just as big around its width. It was grey with a small square shaped screen on top of its egg shaped body, currently blank for now, but he was sure that it will be blinking with lights and sounds.

Darren got up and walked over to her. "Hey."

"Hey." She said.

"What are you doing?"

"Working on a maintenance drone to help out around the ship." Gina replied. "Liftor and Rollbar built the armor and internal components, but I'm working on the AI. Or I was until Annie chucked my hammer across the room like it was Mjolnir."

Darren looked at the little robot and cocked his head. "What's his name?"

"Doc." Gina answered. At Darren's look, she added, "I thought it was cute. He could be like Ratchet's little assistant, helping out with small things and stuff, but I've been lacking in the AI department."

"You do realize that we're living with alien robots who have master interstellar transport right?"

"I don't want to rely on the Autobots all the time. I want to be the first to make the world's first advanced AI. At least, that's the plan anyway." Gina said.

Jolt kicked the door open and walked into the room. "What's up glitches! I have come with big news."

"Did you finally get a life?" Grindor joked.

"No, you ass." Jolt said, glaring at him. "I'm heading towards the shuttle bay to meet up with Bee and the others. Optimus is leading a mission in Europa. Don't ask me why, but I'm guessing it's something big if Prime is going along."

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's move out!" Annie jumped off the couch and to the door, dragging Jolt with her.

"Annie wait-and she's gone." Darren sighed. "You're lucky that you don't have a sibling, Gina. Sometimes they're more trouble than their worth."

"Think of it this way. At least she's not like Flamewar." Gina said, patting him on the back. "Come on, let's catch her before she gets herself hurt. Sureshock, could you watch Doc for me please?"

"Okay, Gina." Sureshock nodded. As the kids left the room, Grindor eyed Doc's inert body warily.

"That thing isn't some living bomb is it? Because I know I've seen exploding drones that look just like it." He said. Sureshock rolled her eyes.

Down in the shuttle bay, Optimus stood before his assembled team of four; Bumblebee, Bulkhead, Wheeljack and Sparkplug. Arcee stood to the side manning the ground bridge in Ratchet's place.

"Teletran-1 just detected a strong energy signature in Airlann, one that's similar to the one Jazz and I picked up in the Amazon." Optimus said. "It's paramount that we mobilize now before the Decepticons. I have no doubt that they've already picked up in the signature as well."

"As long as we don't have to fight any dragons, I'm game." Bulkhead slammed his fists together in anticipation.

"Hold up!" Annie ran up to them, with Jolt in tow. She stopped before Bulkhead, nearly sending the red Minicon to the ground.

"Jeez, Annie, you nearly pulled my servo from its joint." Jolt said. Bumblebee knelt down to pick his partner up.

"Don't even think about it, Annie. This mission is not for little girls to be running around in." Bulkhead said. "The Cons are gonna be coming at us in mass and a firefight between us and them is not a safe place."

"Oh come on Bulk. Don't do this to me." Annie pleaded. "It's depressing around here and I can't take the angst anymore!"

"Sorry Annie, but we're going into a hot zone. You'd only get in the way." He said. Annie looked at him like he'd grown a second head.

"Do you not recall me saving your big ass with a hammer as big as me? I can help be providing support!"

"Annie, you are not coming with us and that is final." Optimus said firmly. "Time is of the essence, Autobots. Transform and roll out!"

The Autobots took on their vehicle modes and drove into the ground bridge, leaving a very angry Annie alone near the gate. But then a wide smile spread across her face. She looked at Arcee, who was busy monitoring the ground bridge controls to make sure that Prime's team had gotten to their destination easily. Seeing this opening, Annie ran forward, making a sprint for the portal just as Gina and Darren entered the shuttle bay.

"Annie!" Gina exclaimed.

"For crying out loud." Darren groaned.

They chased after Annie, but she already had a head start on them. She was already gone when they reach the archway, and they were forced to run in after her. The two kids made it just before Arcee shut the ground bridge down, not having heard them pass by her over the noise.

XXXXXXX

Optimus and his team exited the ground bridge and switched to robot mode, weapons out. When they saw that the area was clear, they relaxed.

They were in the middle of a grassy plains, one that was no different from the rest of the country, but what caught their attention was the stone structure that was in the middle of the clearing. It looked like some stone monolith, a circle formation of stone with tall pillars that curved inwards towards the center of the circle.

"What is that?" Bumblebee asked.

"You're asking me? Because I don't have a clue about human architecture, especially ones from thousands of years ago." Bulkhead replied.

Wheeljack pointed his scanner in the direction of the structure. "Looks like that's where the energy reading is coming from. Let go check it out and-"

"Look out!" Bulkhead yelled.

He barreled into Wheeljack and knocked him over just as six missiles hit the ground where he was standing. Optimus looked up and saw Nightshade's beast mode swooping low to the ground. He fired his Ion cannon at her but she dodged and switched to robot mode in mid-flight, using the momentum built up to slam her feet into Prime's chest. Optimus rolled onto his back but got to his feet and fired his cannon, nearly taking off her wing.

"Optimus!" Bumblebee went to help his leader, but was hit by a police car that came out of nowhere. He fell to the ground, but quickly got to his knees as the car swerved around for another go.

"Pay attention to your own battles scout!" Barricade growled.

Bulkhead and Wheeljack were dealing with their own problems in the form of Lugnut, who was unleashing heavy firepower from the missile pods on his back. Bulkhead took most of them to his thick armor while Wheeljack laid down some fire from behind him. His laser blasts did little to hurt Lugnut, only further enrage him. The Con took out his mace and swung it around with a war cry.

"For Megatron!" He bellowed. He charged at the two Autobots like a raging bull and met Bulkhead head on in a clash.

This was the chaotic sight Annie had run into. The entire field was lit up with small explosions and blaster fire that arced through the air. She was careful to stay out of sight and far enough from the battle so that no one, especially the Cons, noticed her.

"This is perfect." Annie said to herself. "Now where was that energy sig thing they were talking about?"

"ANNIE!"

She cursed and turned around to see Darren slam into her, bringing them both to the ground. Annie tried to get him off her, but Darren used his weight to pin her to the ground and glared down at her with anger that he rarely displayed against her.

"What the hell were you thinking?" He hissed. "You can't just go into a warzone like that? It's dangerous!"

"Finding Minicons is dangerous to, but I don't see you talking about that." Annie said.

"Don't pull that shit with me. We're going back to the Ark now, and I'm having Rollbar cuff you to the damn couch!" Darren said.

"Uh, Darren," Gina tapped his shoulder and pointed to the empty space behind them. "The ground bridge is gone."

Darren gaped at her in shock. "And we didn't bring our phones. What else can go wrong?"

"Well, Nightshade is giving us the think eye." Annie pointed out.

They looked up and saw the avian femme glaring over at them with her blood red eyes. Nightshade wasted no time in powerlinking with Songbird and aiming her rail cannon at them.

"Damn it, Annie!" Darren shouted.

Optimus appeared behind Nightshade and kicked her arm into the air just as she fired her rail gun. The beam was knocked off course and missed the kids, tearing through the ground next to them. He grabbed her and threw her across the field into Barricade, also cutting her leg with his gyro-blades.

" _Optimus, the kids are not in the Ark!"_ Arcee said.

"I have a visual." Optimus replied, glaring at the kids.

Annie looked straight at Optimus and said the only thing that she could in that situation. "It totally wasn't my fault."

"Oh don't even go there!" Darren exclaimed.

"That's enough from both of you." Prime said, in a rarely used aggravated tone. The kids knew that he was not in the mood. "Hide over by that structure and wait for someone to escort you back to base. Do not move, do you understand?"

They nodded and ran for the stone structure. Optimus called Arcee to have High Wire's team take a ground bridge to their position, and not long after that he had to duck under a kick from Nightshade.

"I never thought that you were one to rely on fleshies to do your dirty work, Prime!" Nightshade said.

"I don't soley rely on them, though I can count the number of times they have outsmarted you." Optimus replied.

"Don't confuse me with Starscream and his lackeys!" Nightshade sneered. "Unlike him, I learn from my mistakes!"

XXXXXXXX

Annie watched the battle from the safety of the pillars. Darren was keeping an eye out for any other unwanted visitors that might try to blindside them, and Gina was doing…what she did best really.

"This is your fault Annie," Darren said. "If anything happens to us, I'm holding you responsible."

"Go blow a gasket. I was only trying to get some snapshots of the action for the scrapbook." Annie said. She didn't sound concerned at all that Optimus was going to give her a serious tongue lashing afterwards. "I mean, we never get to see the real action since we're too busy getting the Minicon panels and-"

She yelped as a stray blaster bolt hit the ground near them, kicking dirt and grass into her face. Darren created a TK shield to deflect any other debris from hitting them.

"That's why. We'll only get in the way if we run around a battle zone throwing rocks at the Cons. And I am not looking forward to telling sis how you died trying to get some pictures." He said.

"You make it seem like I'm willing to jump in front of a gun to get a good shot." Annie hissed. Darren grabbed her shirt and pulled her close.

"You would!"

Gina stood apart from the others, looking at the symbols inscribed on the pillars. She had Sky Spy in hand, recording the runes in the stone as she tried to read them. Something was oddly familiar about these symbols, she was pretty sure that she saw something like them before. She was so into her work that she didn't notice the ground bridge appear a few feet from the site.

Centurion stepped out and ran over towards the kids. "Get to the bridge, now!"

Darren ran over to take Gina's hand. "Come on, our ride's here."

"Wait, I need to get the rest of this!" Gina said.

"We don't have time-"

"Look out!" Annie shouted.

She and Darren jump back to the safety of the pillars as Lugnut's rain of missile pods explode around them. Darren raised his barrier again, but it trembled under the force of the large explosions. Seeing that the kids were pinned, Centurion took the initiative and ran for them, ducking and dodging under the flying laser bolts and missiles. He didn't care that he was running through a hellhole, the only thing that mattered was getting the kids.

Barricade, who was grappling with Bumblebee, noticed the gestalt running across the field and growled. He smirked at Bumblebee and kicked him away before aiming his blaster at Centurion.

"No!" Bumblebee powerlinked with Jolt and fired his solar agitator.

Unfortunately he fired too late. Barricade got his shot off before he was hit in the chest with a ball of condensed photon energy, knocking him off his feet and blasting off some of his chest armor. His laser beam hit the ground near Centurion, not hitting him, but the gestalt was engulfed in the explosion. The kids watched in horror as their combined friends were sent flying in the air and crashed into the center of the circle. They separated as they hit the ground in a smoking heap.

"High Wire!" Darren ran over to his friend. The girls went to look their guardians over as well.

Then they noticed something strange happening. The minute the Minicons touched the stone, it began to glow. Gina gave a soft "jinkies" as she saw the runes on the pillars glow from the bottom up. Darren felt the air charge with electricity and tried to summon a TK barrier, only to find that his powers weren't working.

"What's going on?" He yelled over the crackling energy. Energy lanced between the pillars, forming a sort of barrier around them.

"I don't know, just hang on to the Minicons and pray!" Annie shouted.

Bulkhead was the first to notice what was going on. After slugging Lugnut in the jaw, he turned to see the kids and Minicons trapped in the spiraling vortex of energy that was building up. Without a second thought, he broke off his engagement and ran to save them.

"Bulkhead, wait!" Optimus yelled.

The dome exploded outward, releasing an energy wave that knocked Bulkhead off his feet, and blasted the other bots away as well by the sheer force of the shockwave. Optimus looked up and lost sight of the kids in the middle of the violent storm as the pillars reached their capacity. All those still coherent saw a pillar of blue light shoot up from the structure, parting the clouds and bathing the immediate area in a blinding blue glow that lasted only for a few seconds. Then the light pillar dissipated as if it was never there in the first place.

And so were the children.

"What in Mortilus' name just happened?" Nightshade questioned.

"No." Optimus muttered. The kids and Minicons were gone. And he had no idea where they went.

XXXXXXXXX

"And that's what happened." Nightshade finished reporting to Megatron, who stood on the bridge listening silently. "There was no sign of the humans or their Minicons. They were just gone, as if-"

"Vaporized?" Megatron suggested. She shook her head.

"No. The blast wave it released would've damaged us all if it were that harmful. But I wasn't detecting any form of radiation. It all looked a little bit like primitive warping technology."

Megatron narrowed his eyes and rubbed his chin. This was something that needed further investigation. "Are the Autobots still at the sight?"

"They hauled it after losing their human pets, but I can't say if they're not going to come back." Nightshade replied.

"Gather a team and return to the site. I want to know what just happened and-"

"Lord Megatron!" Thundercracker burst through the doors with a panicked look on his face. Megatron and Nightshade glared at him.

"Have you lost your senses Thundercracker?" Megatron growled. "What possessed you to barge in here and interrupt important business?"

"I-it's Soundwave," He stammered. "Something's wrong with him."

"What?" Nightshade asked. "What's wrong with him?"

"Don't know, he just collapsed in the middle of the hall and I had to haul him to the med bay."

Nightshade was already out the door before anyone could react. Megatron and Thundercrakcer followed after her and quickly caught up to her, despite the long strides she was doing through the halls. They made it to the med bay in no time and as they got closer they heard what sounded like screams of pain. Megatron and Nightshade glanced at each other before walking through the doors and coming upon a strange sight.

It was Soundwave, strapped to the medical berth with steel restraints and writhing in some form of pain. Strange sounds were coming from his mouth, and it took Nightshade a minute to realize that he was screaming. Soundwave, the stoic, emotionless spymaster, was screaming. His flailing must have been too violent to leave him unrestrained if he was strapped to the slab-for Knockout's sake that better be his reason.

"What is going on here, Knockout?" Megatron asked. "What's happening to him?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out, my lord." Knockout gulped. "Thundercracker told me that Soundwave had collapsed in the middle of the hall just a few minutes ago and has been writhing in pain the whole time."

Nightshade looked Soundwave over. "I don't see any visible wounds."

"I don't think Soundwave is suffering from physical wounds." Knockout said. He pointed at the scan of Soundwave's head, which showed his brain activity. "Soundwave's brain activity is fluctuating wildly, so I can only guess that whatever he's experiencing must be mental."

Neither Megatron nor Nightshade knew what to do about this. Soundwave was always susceptible to what he called the "voices", which were the stray thoughts that he picked up unconsciously with his powers. Until Ravage and Lazerbeak found him, Soundwave had no control over his powers and almost went insane from it. Nightshade, who knew Soundwave more than anyone in the Decepticons, even Megatron, but she never saw a reaction like this.

"Is there anything we can do? Find what's causing him so much pain?" She asked.

"If you have any suggestions, be my guest. I'm a doctor not a psychiatrist." Knockout said. Ignoring Nightshade's glare, he continued, "The best explanation I can give is that some outside force if causing him to be like this. Something powerful enough to override his natural mental defenses and enter his mind. It must be painful if he's like this."

Megatron looked down at the struggling Soundwave, silently noting how the only emotion that the spymaster ever gave was intense pain. He wasn't there when Soundwave was aimlessly roaming Cybertron, nearly insane from all the thoughts that he absorbed. The power to read minds, even at a limited range, was a power that most coveted, but Soundwave did his best to suppress it. He never understood why, but seeing him on the slab at this moment finally helped him realize why he was so apprehensive.

"Put him in stasis." Megatron ordered.

Knockout obeyed, placing Soundwave's head into a harness and pressing the button. The harness released a soft, low frequency EMP wave that gently shut down Soundwave's motor functions, sending him into stasis. Soundwave calmed down and his body fell still, allowing Nightshade to sigh in relief.

"Monitor him for any other abnormalities and notify me if his condition changes." Megatron said.

"Yes, my lord."

"Nightshade, come with me."

Megatron left the med bay with Nightshade. They walked to the bridge in silence before Nightshade finally decided to speak.

"What's on your mind? You look like you've got some questions." She pointed out.

"The humans getting teleported by some ancient warp gate and Soundwave's sudden seizure is timed too close together to be a mere coincidence." Megatron said.

"You want me to check it out?" She asked. He gave her a look.

"That would be nice, yes." He replied, earning a glare from her. "There is something going on here that we're not seeing and I intend to find out what."

XXXXXXXXX

The first thing that Darren thought upon waking up was that he was cold. Cold as in his whole body had a chill that ran right down to his bones, as if he spent an entire day without a coat on in the middle of November. He grunted and moved his stiff limbs, opening his eyes to see a slightly dirty Gina leaning over him.

"You're okay," Gina breathed, sagging in relief. "Thank Gaia. I thought you were hurt or something. You were out for a while."

"A while?" Darren rapsed. He tried to get up but hissed as he felt his head throb in pain. "What about the others?"

"High Wire, Sureshock and Grindor are still in one piece at least, though they're pretty beat up. Annie and I are not hurt either." She said. "You're the last one to wake up."

Darren sat up with Gina's help (he noticed that she was also deathly cold to the touch) and took a look around. They were in the middle of a stone structure that was almost the same as the one in Airlann, though with some differences; the pillars were not as curved and shorter as well, while also lacking as many symbols as the other one. They were all in the middle of a cave, though the walls looked much too smooth and polished to have been formed naturally.

The Minicons were lying on the wall outside the circle. Darren was relieved to see that they were not seriously hurt, but their injuries still looked bad, with burns all along their forms and slightly warped armor. Annie was sitting not too far from them, and facing away from him.

"Darren, don't." Gina warned, but he shook her off and stood up. He ignored the pain in his head as he marched towards his sister.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Darren shouted at Annie. She looked at him, but didn't reply. "That stunt you pulled could've gotten us all killed!"

"Excuse me for not knowing that we were going to get teleported halfway around the world." Annie said. Though her words were biting, she lacked her usual snarky tone.

"Don't get snippy with me. Centurion was almost killed, trying to save us, do you understand? All because you wanted to get your daily fix of adrenaline!"

"What the fuck do you want me to do? I'm sorry okay? What else do you want me to say?" Annie yelled at him.

"I want you to start acting like you have some goddamn sense." He hissed. "This isn't a game, this is war. When are you going to remember that?"

"Darren, Annie, please stop." High Wire grunted. He winced as he felt his slightly scorched joints grind painfully against each other. "This isn't the time to be fighting. We need to work together."

"Yeah, lay off the poor girl." Grindor said, pulling a piece of burnt armor off his arm. "She's learned her lesson. No need to go ham on her."

Darren and Annie glared at each other for a few more seconds before he looked away with a huff. Gina joined them as they planned their next move.

"How are you guys feeling?" Gina asked.

"We're alright, mostly." High Wire said. "The flames did more damage than the explosion itself. We're a little crispy but nothing that our repair systems can't handle. We should be good in about 30 minutes or so."

"We don't have 30 minutes. We need to find out where we are and get a word back to the Autobots quick." Annie said. "Bulkhead is probably worried sick about me."

"Him and everyone else." Gina said. She looked around at the cave and had an idea. "Let's get out of here and go see where we are."

"Not without us." Sureshock said. Of the three Minicons, she was the least damaged, but Gina still held her down.

"I'm sorry Sureshock, but you guys need to stay here and rest up. We won't go far."

"Even still, what if you run into trouble? Darren's strong, but he's only one boy." High Wire said.

"I can take care of myself if things go wrong. After all, I have this." Gina reached into her bag and pulled out a long black pistol with Cybertronian writing etched onto the barrel. Both Darren and Annie looked at it, and her, in shock.

"Is that a gun?" Darren asked.

"Yup. Guys, say hello to the first human made plasma blaster," Gina grinned. "I spent nearly a month trying to work out the mechanics, but thanks to Rollbar's help, I finished just in time. It even has his stamp of approval." She pointed at the writing on the barrel.

Annie just stared at the blonde for a long while before she found the coherency to speak. "You made a legit blaster? And didn't give me one? Dude, I thought we were friends. How come I never got some protection like that?" Now it was Gina's turn to stare hard at Annie, and the girl shyly looked away once she realized the reason. "Right, stupid question. Sorry."

"Guys, focus. We'll scout the area, see where we are. Then we focus on contacting the Autobots." Darren turned to High Wire. "I know you don't like that plan, but you aren't in any position to stop us."

'Cheeky kid.' High Wire thought. "Okay, fine. You can go. But stay close to each other and don't try to be heroes. Your sister will have our Sparks if anything happened to you."

The children nodded and walked towards the only entrance to the cave. Darren gave their guardians one last look before following the girls out the cave.

The tunnel was large, almost large enough to allow someone as tall as Centurion to walk through. It led upwards on a steep slope, and the kids had to almost climb up in order to make it through the tunnel. Fortunately the tunnel wasn't that long, and they saw the bright sunlight shining through the entrance. Annie was first to make it to the cave opening, and the first to see where they were.

"Annie, what do you see?" Darren asked. When she stayed silent, he grew concerned. "Annie?"

"Dude," Annie breathed. "You got to see this."

Darren and Gina traded glances, and they climbed towards the entrance. Darren made it up to Annie, and helped Gina to her feet. When their eyes adjusted to the bright light, they too were surprised by what they found.

"Jinkies." Gina breathed.

"We are definitely in a place we are not supposed to be." Darren said.

XXXXXXXXX

Optimus and Ironhide made their way through the halls of the Ark at a brisk pace. After withdrawing from the battleground, Optimus made his way to the Command Center. He had already called Ratchet to locate the kids and the Street Team. He hoped that they were someplace safe, or at least that they were alive.

"Well this is a fine mess." Ironhide grumbled.

"Your opinion is noted, Ironhide. Now help me find a way to get the children and their guardians back. Every moment we waste places them in potentially more danger." Optimus replied. He sounded more agitated than normal, but one couldn't blame him.

They entered the Command Room, where the rest of the team and the Minicons were assembled. Ratchet was at the computer diligently working with Teletran-1 to pinpoint the kids' locations via their guardians' energon signatures, with Prowl looming over his shoulder.

"Have you found anything Ratchet?" Optimus asked.

"Nothing! I can't detect Sky Spy or the Minicons' energon signals!" Ratchet growled in frustration. "It's like they just disappeared."

"Work harder, Ratchet. Who knows where they are now? We don't have time to be half-assing it." Bulkhead said.

"Don't you think I know that?" Ratchet replied. "Make yourself useful and go look for them outside. Vent off some of that pent up frustration that's always seems to be nagging you. It'll give all of us some piece of mind."

"I'll vent my frustration alright!" Bulkhead stomped towards the medic, but Jetfire held him back.

"Be chill, big buy. This isn't the time for a brawl." Jetfire said.

"Jetfire is right. We don't have time for this." Prowl said. Then he had an idea. "Does anyone know how to call them?"

"I have Darren's phone signal on me. I can call him using that." Arcee said. She put two fingers on the side of her head and linked her comm. channel with Darren's phone. She heard the phone ringing, but it sounded like it was right next to her.

"I think you guys might need another plan of action." Tracer said. She held up Darren's cellphone, which was ringing.

"Well," Jetfire shrugged. "Looks like we've lost some valued comrades. I'll go arrange the funeral."

"Shut up, Jetfire." Arcee sighed. There goes that idea.

"Ratchet, can you at least tell if they're still alive?" Optimus asked. Ratchet did so without a word, and once he was done, his mood improved a bit.

"Yes! It appears that the Minicons' life signals are still online." He said. Optimus and the others visibly sagged in relief.

"If the Minicons are alive, then the kids must still be alright as well." Arcee said.

"But that doesn't answer where they are, or if they're not in any danger." Ironhide said. There were still so many questions and not enough answers.

Optimus thought for a minute. "Jetfire."

"Yeah?"

"How high can you fly?"

"Well, I'm not one to brag or anything, but I can fly into the atmosphere on a full fuel tank." Jetfire said. "You want me to run some recon?"

"Yes, please. Trying to search from the ground will take too long. You have the best chance out of all of us in finding some sign of the kids from orbit." Optimus said.

"Say no more, Prime. I'll do it." Jetfire saluted and walked out the room with Comettor on his shoulder.

Optimus turned to his team. "Wheeljack, Ratchet, you're with me. We're going back to investigate that structure and see what it is. The rest of you will remain on standby until I give the order to move out."

"But Prime-!" Bulkhead went silent at the look Optimus gave him.

"Anyone mobilizing without my authorization will be spending the rest of the day in the brig." He said. "This is a crucial moment, and we can't lose our focus or restraint. Doing so will invite chaos not only onto ourselves but on our friends as well. Is that clear?"

"Yes Optimus." The Autobots said.

"Prowl you're in charge." Optimus told his SIC and he exited the Command Room with Wheeljack and Ratchet behind him.

Bulkhead clenched his fists and sighed, trying to reign in his frustration. Arcee put a hand on his shoulder.

"Bulk, calm down. Now's not the time to lose our cool." She said. "Annie's fine. She is in good hands. And so are the others."

"I know, it's just," Bulkhead shrugged helplessly. "There are worse things than the Cons out there, you know? And the Minicons aren't all that powerful compared to what I've gone up against. Just thinking about it gets me steamed."

"Well stressing yourself out about what you can't do isn't going to solve the problem, only make it worse." Prowl told him. "We'll find a lead, but until then, you guys rest up and prepare in case Prime needs us. Ironhide and I can handle things here."

Arcee nodded and she left the room with Bumblebee, Bulkhead and Jazz. Ironide stood by the terminal watching Prowl take his place at Teletran-1.

"You don't seem all that worried for the kids." Ironhide noted.

"That's because I'm not. Despite what I say about the humans getting involved, I'd be a fool not to realize that they are capable of handling themselves in dire situations." Prowl said calmly. He vented air through his intakes and looked at the older mech. "But Bulkhead is right. There are more dangerous powers out there than the Decepticons, and I hope that they never experience what you went through."

Ironhide grunted and crossed his arms. "As great it would be to think that way, we both know that it's foolish to think that nothing's gonna happen. Let's just hope that High Wire's team can keep the kids safe."

Prowl noted that with everything that's been going on, that was not very likely. But for the sake of keeping things stable, he stayed silent.

XXXXXXXXXX

Soundwave laid on the berth, still twitching in pain-filled spasms as his body was in stasis. Though his screams had died down, his mind was still filled with an agonizing rush of images and flashes that came at him with such intensity that he couldn't hold back his screams. It was a feeling not unlike the uncontrollable rush of thoughts from over a thousand minds at once, that endless limbo he spent hearing the minds of others, but not being able to hear his own. Soundwave thought that since he had control, he would never experience that hell again. He was wrong.

But this was…different. It wasn't his own powers that were going crazy, but rather something else was assaulting his mind. Something big, something powerful. He could feel it breaking through his mental defenses, tearing away at his telepathic walls in order to get to information that could cripple the Decepticons if taken by the wrong hands. He couldn't allow that to happen.

Seizing his body, Soundwave fought back against the invading presence, strengthening his mind and pushed back against it. He remembered what Ravage once told him about focus, thinking on one thing and then blocking out all other distractions. With a grunt he forced his will to take over and began pushing the presence out.

" **You are not like the others."** A deep voice rumbled. Hearing it in his mind made even Soundwave's body tremble. **"You actually harbor some will to stand against me. Curious, but futile. I am a god, I will take what I see fit. Who are you to deny me my rights?"**

Soundwave's body seized up again as his mind was assaulted by images once more, but these were more coherent. While the invader was gleaming information from his mind, he was doing the same, though he could barely get anything more than images. They showed a bountiful paradise, the likes of which mirrored what the humans called Eden. Another image showed the paradise in the middle of a frozen wasteland, where he did not know, but judging from the weather, he could guess that it was in one of the poles.

" **You false deities seek to wage war on our world? You think that you can take what is not yours and burn the rest? Arrogance! Blasphemy! The time of the alignment is coming, and when it comes, judgment will be set upon you!"** The voice said. It wasn't just a threat. It was a promise. **"This world is ours, and neither man nor god can take it from us! We are coming!"**

The resulting backlash was so violent that Soundwave wretched his arms and legs free from his restraints and fell to the floor. A startled Knockout ran up to him and helped him up.

"Soundwave, what are you doing? You're supposed to be resting!" Knockout said.

Soundwave took a moment to gather himself, and looked at the medic. "Take me…to Megatron."

"Whatever it is you want to tell him, it can wait until-urk!" Knockout was grabbed by the throat by the spymaster and pulled him close.

"Call…Megatron…" Soundwave growled.

"S-sure. Anything you say old friend." Knockout gagged. To think some Cons believed that being a doctor wasn't a hazardous job.

XXXXXXX

Wheeljack ran his scanner along the pillars of the stone structure in Airlann, humming all the while. Optimus and Ratchet stood nearby, discussing the events from earlier.

"And you said this thing didn't activate until Centurion crashed into it?" Ratchet asked.

"Yes. It activated and initiated some kind of process that most likely teleported the children and the Minicons to someplace else." Optimus said.

Ratchet studied the markings on the pillars with a critical eye. He was no expert on alien history like Glyph was, but he spent enough time with Gina to know that these symbols were familiar.

"These are Arian symbols," He said. "In fact, I think this might be their language."

"Their language?"

"Yes. This structure must have been built by the Arians, just like nearly everything else on this planet." The medic said. "And if that's the case, then I can assume that it's not just some shrine or anything like it at all. But some form of ancient technology. Wheeljack. Have you found anything?"

"I'm detecting huge traces of energy in and around the circle, but I can't identify it." Wheeljack said, scratching his head. "It's weird. I'm definitely getting something, but my scanners aren't really picking up on just what this is."

"Of course. Just typical." Ratchet huffed.

"The most I can tell you is that the energy is coming from the ground, more specifically the earth itself."

Optimus hid his growing frustration. None of this was getting them any closer to finding their missing friends. But this little tidbit did prove to be too interesting to ignore. He filed that information for a later date and told Wheeljack to keep investigating.

Sparkplug noticed that Optimus seemed to e running on a short fuse since the kids were taken. He thought that it was just the stress of the situation getting to him, but then he realized that it might be something more.

"Optimus, are you feeling alright?" He asked.

"I am fine, Sparkplug," Optimus sighed. He felt as if he aged a century in a single day. "I'm just feeling a bit stressed. It's nothing to worry about."

Sparkplug didn't look convinced, but decided to let it go. Optimus looked away from his Minicon partner and looked up at the grey sky. Advanced technology was at work here, technology that he had never seen before. Obviously the Arians were more advanced than they originally thought, and this was evidence enough, but they still had no idea where the kids were taken to. He hoped that wherever they are, they were safe, because it seemed that this world was getting more and more hostile to them as the year passed on.

He lightly touched his chest plate, where the Matrix of Leadership lied under his spark chamber. The ancient relic that had been lost since the disappearance of Nova Prime was inactive most of the time unless he called upon its power in times of dire need, but today it was burning like it was left in the furnace for too long. This was rare, but not impossible, as the Matrix seemed to favor using pain to alert Optimus whenever something big was coming. At times it would lightly sting, and other times it would feel as if he was being incinerated from the inside out, but today it was steadily getting worse.

Optimus knew this was an omen, a prelude to something that was much bigger than himself, Megatron or any other Cybertronian on this world. He had a feeling that it had something to do with those stone beings that seemed to lord over this world since ancient times. This wasn't just a message, it was an unspoken declaration of war.

XXXXXXXX

Looking at the sight before them, the kids knew that they were not in Airlann anymore. The cave they just exited was smack dab in the middle of what could only be described as a paradise. It was some bright and beautiful forest that extended out into some oasis, with clear streams of water running through glades. Birds could be heard chirping in the trees and butterflies hovered near colorful flowers.

The air was crisp and clean, the weather warm and pleasant, with the sunlight warm against their skin. Curiously, aside from insects and birds, there weren't any other animals for that matter, and forget about humans.

"Where are we?" Darren asked.

"No idea. But this place is pretty bitchin considering we're in the middle of Fall." Annie said. "Man, it's like Spring here."

"I can't tell where we are at all. This place, it's hard to get my bearings. There are tons of places in the world that has forests." Gina said.

"But have you seen anything this beautiful?" Annie asked. She began walking down the slope. "Come, let's see some more of this place. I think it might actually be kinda cool."

Gina followed her, leaving Darren alone at the mouth of the cave. He looked up at the sky and what he thought were clouds, but were really large clouds of mist, colored blue to simulate the blue hue of the sky. This place may look beautiful, but to him it all seemed a bit too artificial. Everything here gave him a bad feeling that got stronger the closer he got to any of the flora here.

The girls were entranced by the tranquil nature of the forest they were in. Annie, who was never one for flower watching, actually took the time to look at the wildly colorful flowers that dotted the glade. Gina was looking at things from a more analytical standpoint.

"Some of these flowers are from other parts of the world. This one," She pointed to a lotus flower in the stream. "Is from Xing. And this one," She pointed to a tall stalk of reeds sticking up from a pond. "Is from Egyptia. What are they doing in one place?"

"Another question for another time. Right now, we need to call the Bots and tell them where we are." Darren said.

"Wherever here is." Gina muttered.

He went for his pockets but stopped himself. "Damn, I forgot my phone back at base. Do you have yours?"

"No. I left it on my work table with Sky Spy. Sorry." Gina said. Then her face lit up. "But I think Annie has hers!"

"Sweet! Annie, can you call-Annie?" He looked around but saw no sign of her. He called her again and cursed. "Damn it, this is what we get for taking our eyes off her."

Deeper in the forest, Annie was still exploring this strange new land. It looked no different from all the other forests that she been in, but something about this place put her at ease. It was like she was in the most serene place in the world, far from the noise of the outside world, from all the problems and responsibilities that made just living a chore. She felt like she could stay here forever.

"What's this?" She muttered.

Annie found herself at the edge of the forest, where a large gate sat just a foot away from her. It led to an ancient stone city with buildings constructed in a fashion similar to the old buildings in Italia. Standing by the gate were two statues; both looked like some form of animal, they had the bodies of dogs, but their heads were shaped like huge cones that lacked eyes, noses and even mouths. On their backs were tiny wings, and tails that looked more like barbed whips. A curious thing about them is that they looked like they were made of stone, but had golden armor on their forms.

As she got closer, she saw that they had nameplates on their pedestals with words etched into the faded metal. She couldn't read the strange language on the plaques, but they could be translated as "Fearless and Fairness".

"This place just keeps getting stranger and stranger." Annie said and walked towards the gate. She grabbed the rusty gate and shook it hard, trying to get it to open. It didn't even budge. "Come on, don't be like that. Open sesame!"

Annie continued to struggle with the gate, and she had no idea that the noise she was making had attracted the wrong kind of attention, and not the kind that invited dangerous animals to the party. The statues began to twitch and move, their bland grey color fading away into bright, vibrant colors. The creature known as Fearless was electric blue, and its brother Fairness was fiery red. Annie didn't notice them move until Fearless lashed out with its tail, hitting her arm with its sharp point and leaving a long gash along her arm.

"Shit!" Annie jumped back in alarm, allowing the two lion/dog animals to jump off their pedestals and stalk towards her. She backed away, clutching her bleeding arm. "G-get back! I know Shoalin you stupid-"

Fearless cut her off with a loud roar and lunged at her. Annie rolled to the side and just barely dodge getting her head taken off from a swipe from Fairness's claws. She fell to the ground and hissed as her arm stung. Seeing both lion-dogs circling her, Annie did the only thing she could think of in this situation.

"HELP!"

Darren and Gina heard the loud cry that echoed throughout the quiet forest and without hesitation ran towards it. Annie continued to cause as much noise as possible to make it easier for them to find her. They jumped out of the brush and came upon Annie, who was being attacked by two strange creatures.

"Leave her alone!" Darren ran forward, uprooting large stones from the ground and tossing them at the beasts. He slashed his arm and a stone spike hit Fairness in the chin, but Fearless lunged at Darren, its drill-like head split open to reveal a mouth full of serrated teeth.

Before it could reach him, Fearless was hit in the head by a purple beam that blew a hole in the side of its head. Gina ran forward, screaming a war cry as she fired his plasma gun at Fearless over and over. The shots certainly did some damage, and it took the heat off Darren long enough to him to run over to Annie.

"Are you alright?" Darren asked. He grimaced as he looked at the bleeding cut on the length of her left arm.

"I'm fine. Nothing Ratchet can't fix." Annie smirked, though she wasn't feeling very happy right now. She just made another mistake that was going to get them all killed now.

Gina had managed to shoot one of Fearless's legs off and make it fall to the ground, but Fairness came at her from behind. It rammed its head into her body, knocking her off her feet and sending the plasma gun flying from her hand. Fairness charged at Gina, but the blonde felt something pull at the back of her shirt and she slid back into Darren's arms. He stood in front of the girls as the two creatures slowly stalked towards them.

"Well, it was nice knowing you guys. You two were the best friends a nerd could ask for." Gina whimpered.

"Don't jinx us, Gina. We haven't died yet, and we don't plan to." Darren said.

"Think you can back that up with more than just words?" Annie asked. Darren glanced back at her.

"Watch me."

Fearless and Fairness chose that moment to leap at the kids together from the front. Darren leaned forward to meet their charge, ready to push himself to the limit to keep them away as much as he could. He managed to survive almost getting blown away by Megatron, hunted by Flamewar-twice!- and almost getting his head shot off by D-Va. He was not going to die at the claws of some Golem knock-offs!

Just as prepared to blast them away with his telekinesis, something very unexpected happened. A large sword fell down from the sky and impaled Fearless through the torso. Darren jumped back in surprise, and Fairness watched as its counterpart died immediately and its body fell to pieces. Then the sword began to separate into tiny, human sized aircraft that flew into the air. The kids recognized them as Cybertronian alt modes, though they faintly resembled Terran aircraft; a sonic cruiser jet plane, a supersonic transport jet plane and a Cybertronian shuttle.

The sonic cruiser flew in low and slammed into Fairness's side, knocking it into the air. The jet plane and shuttle performed a rather fancy maneuver and fired four missiles at the beast. The kids shielded their eyes as Fairness exploded in a plume of flames and rock. The three aircraft flew above them before transforming into robot mode and landing before the children.

They were Minicons; the mech in the front was a mostly grey bot with orange red powerlines running along his arms and a matching visor and mouthplate. The mech who was a jet plane was slightly taller than his leader, with a larger silver body that had some blue armor on his chest with wings on his back and a face that consisted of nothing more than a clear orange faceplate. The mech who was a shuttle was the least armored of the trio, sporting the same silver color scheme as his companions and had sharp angular fins on his shoulders, with a red mouthplate and orange visor.

"You alright there squishies?" The mech who had the cruiser alt mode asked. "That was mighty risky of you to go roaming around here. Those scrapheaps like to prowl around ruins like these to keep them safe from intruders. Don't they boys?"

"Yup." The jet plane nodded.

"Totally." The shuttle said.

"It's good luck that we heard you screaming when we did or you would've been meat-or whatever it is those things eat."

"I don't think they eat Runway." The shuttle said.

"Really? Well damn, looks like I need to fix my captian's log again." Sonar said.

"Uh," Darren chose this moment to cut in. "Thanks for saving us. I don't think I would've held them off on my own like that."

"Anything to help a future friend." Sonar said. Then he leaned in close to Darren/ You are a friend right?"

"Yes, I am." He answered.

"Good. Time for introductions. My name is Runway, and this is my team," He pointed to the taller mech with the jet plane alt mode. "Jetstorm."

"Hey."

Then he jerked a thumb at the shuttle. "And Sonar."

"Hi."

"And I'm Runway. We're the Air Defense Team!" Runway said cheerfully. "We're from a distant planet that you probably never-"

"Cybertron." Gina said.

Runway stared at her before clearing his throat. "Okay. Well um, we're special robotic organisms from Cybertron called-"

"Minicons." Annie said.

Runway grumbled and continued. "Well, I bet you're wondering what people like us are doing on a planet so far away from-"

"Your ship crashed and split in half. The whole crew was placed into stasis panels and shot across the planet before the Exodus could crash. You guys had crashed here and have been stuck in this forest since you awakened from your panels." Darren cut in.

"Okay you guys are the worst." Runway sighed.

"Well, I'm Darren, this is my sister Annie and Gina. We're humans native to this planet and we've been helping the Autobots look for Minicons all over the world for the past three months." Darren said in one breath. "Now that we got the introductions out of the way, can you please tell us where we are? We were teleported here by mistake and our friends are really hurt."

"Well," Jetstorm said. "I can't tell you where we are. But I can tell you that you're in Brigadoon!"

"Briga-what?" Annie questioned.

"Brigadoon. It's the name we gave this island." Sonar said.

"Island? This place is an island?" Gina asked. That was strange. This place seemed much too large to be an island.

"Yeah! Welcome to Brigadoon, the floating island!" Runway said proudly. Then he noticed the horrified looks on the kids' faces. "I take it that's not normal where you come from, huh?"

"We are so screwed." Annie whimpered.

For the first time since they got here, Darren agreed with her observation.

XXXXXXX

"I hate this planet," Flamewar growled. "I hate this planet with the passion of a thousand suns."

"You're not the only one. Suck it up and do your job." Nightshade said.

The two Cons were heading towards the location Soundwave had described from his dreams. When he learned of what Soundwave experienced, Megatron was a bit skeptical of such a claim. But if there was something that could make Soundwave scream in agony, something that reminded him too much of the Muses, then it might not be such a waste of time after all. Megatron had sent Nightshade to scout out the area, with Flamewar tagging along because she needed to earn her keep on the team. As a huntress, she was skilled in navigating all forms of terrain, and that was a skill worth utilizing, but Nightshade was far from pleased about spending time with this witch.

"So we're driving around at the coldest place on this god forsaken planet, on the whims of a half-crazed Con who sounds like someone took a leak in his vocoder?" Flamewar huffed. "My abilities should be better utilized than this dog and pony show."

"Shutyour mouth!" Nightshade hissed. "Know that you are only a hair's breath away from getting your spark torn out, so I'd watch my tone if I were you. You are only here to serve Megatron, nothing else. Am I clear?"

"…Crystal, mistress." Flamewar replied. The sneer could practically be felt in her voice as she drove across the frozen tundra in her alt mode.

Nightshade shook her head and continued flying towards the last of the large icy mountains that laid before them. They were almost at the edge of a steep cliff when Songbird called Nightshade on their private channel.

" _Lady Nightshade,"_ The Targetmaster's voice sounded breathless as she spoke to her 'mistress'. " _I think I have found something that proves Soundwave's claims."_

"What is it?" She asked.

" _I think you should see for yourself, mistress."_

Nightshade hummed and flew faster, leaving Flamewar to trail behind her as she reached the very edge of the mountain they were on. Once she reached the cliff, Nightshade switched to robot mode and landed on the cliff. She looked over the edge and saw what made Songbird so speechless.

"By the Allspark." She breathed.

There was a large cloud that slowly drifted through the mountain pass, far too low for a normal cloud to be drifting along. But it was no cloud. Nightshade could see what looked like an island inside the cloud, one that was almost as large as Decepticon Island. She watched as it slowly floated through the pass, held aloft by some invisible force that defied the laws of gravity. Despite everything that she had been through, Nightshade had to admit that this was one of the strangest things she had seen in her campaign on this world. Flamewar drove up next to her and transformed to robot mode, looking down at the magnificent sight with a bemused look.

"I take it you never saw a floating island before?" Flamewar quipped. Nightshade held her sword to her neck. "It was a joke, calm down."

"We need to call this in to Megatron." Nightshade said. "This is something he needs to know about."


	24. The Original Sin part 2

Chapter 24-The Original Sin part 2

When they heard that this island was in fact floating, the kids knew that they were in deep trouble. Runway had explained that he and his comrades had called this island, which they named Brigadoon, their home for what Gina had estimated to be nearly 50 years. Despite this, they had deduced that this island had been roaming the inhospitable lands of the poles for much longer. When asked how they were released from their stasis panels without the programmed failsafe, the Air Defense Team confessed to not having been in panels, but in escape pods.

"Wait, why were you guys never in stasis panels. The rest of the Minicons were stuck in those things before Sparkplug fired them off." Darren said. When they looked at each other wordlessly, Darren knew that this was another one of Sparkplug's "secrets".

"We'll explain that when we get to your friends." Sonar said. He didn't sound particularly eager to be talking about potentially classified information with strangers, despite being friends with Sparkplug and all.

As they returned to the cave, Runway had explained that they tried to fly off the island, but they couldn't even make it past the clouds when more stone creatures swooped in on them and tried to shred them into tin foil. They were at a loss as to what those creatures were as the kids, but Runway said that any large statue could be an enemy waiting to slag them without warning. It made them a bit paranoid.

The kids led the AD team into the cave, where High Wire and his team were waiting, looking much better than earlier. Darren had explained what happened to them, and High Wire gave them a disgruntled look.

"I told you that it was too dangerous to go out by yourself. You almost got yourselves killed." He said.

"But we didn't, and that's what matters." Darren replied. "Besides we got some help."

He motioned to the other Minicons who save them. Runway and his friends waved animatedly at their fellow Minicons, but Grindor only groaned,

"Primus, why did it have to be them?" Grindor said.

"Oh come on, good friend. It's not nice to be picky about who you live with, especially in your current predicament." Runway said.

"We've been waiting for nearly 50 stellar cycles for company. It gets a bit boring here talking to the same people over and over and after a while you start seeking attention from other sources. Like my friend, Chargin." Jetstorm pointed to the empty space next to him. "Say hello Chargin."

Chargin said nothing. The others looked at Jetstorm like he was crazy, and he probably was. High Wire sighed. He heard how eccentric the Air Defense Team was from Sparkplug, who had run into them on Luna-1, but he didn't think they were bordering on the edge of peaceful insanity.

"Look, Runway," High Wire said. He had Darren help him to his feet. "Is there any place where we can hold out until help arrives? I don't feel safe staying in this cave, and we need to call the Autobots as soon as possible."

"Of course we have a secret base of operations!" Sonar laughed haughtily. "We wouldn't have lasted as long as we did on this blasted island without one. We're insane not stupid."

"If you guys can fly, why are you still here?" Gina asked. "I know this place isn't the ideal location for you all to live here."

"We tried flying off the island," Runway said. "But every time we try to fly off, we get attacked by these flying serpents that just pop out of nowhere and try to rip us to shreds."

"You mean there are more of those things out there?" Annie gaped. Runway nodded.

"Oh loads of them. We try to avoid them all, especially those big burly brutes that carry those huge axes. Nasty fellows they are."

"Can we just leave before we inevitably jinx ourselves with all this talk of hostile living statues?" Sureshock pleaded. "We don't have time to stand around talking."

"She's right. We need to move now." High Wire said. He turned to Runway. "Can you please lead us to your hideout? We'll be forever grateful."

"Anything for allies of justice!"

XXXXXX

Near the very edge of the island, Nightshade and Flamewar made their entrance by air. Flamewar was hanging onto Nightshade's underbelly as the raven flew in through the island's thick coating of mist, which felt much denser and constricting than regular puff of air-it was like flying through an atmosphere of some kind. Once they made it through, Nightshade flew in low to the ground and transformed, roughly dropping Flamewar in the dirt as she landed on her feet.

"Thanks for the soft landing." Flamewar grumbled.

"Don't expect another hand out like that again. Next time, Starscream's giving you a lift home." Nightshade said.

Flamewar opened her mouth to retort, but then she saw something in the distance. "What's that thing?"

She pointed forward and Nightshade turned to see that there was something tall in the distance. Magnifying her optical vision, she saw that it was some tall obelisk constructed from some hybrid combination of onyx and sapphire, with a golden pyramid on top that had a stylized eye in the middle. It looked like nothing a human could have built, and she was sure that thing was not just sitting there for decoration.

"Follow my lead, and don't touch anything without my saying so." Nightshade ordered. "We don't know what we're dealing with here, and I don't intend to find out."

"As you command." Flamewar drawled, taking out her crossbow. She could stand that self entitled turkey.

But before they could start their journey towards the obelisk, a golden spear stabbed itself into the ground before them. Nightshade jumped back and drew Gandiva on instinct looked around for who threw the spear. It was long, nearly as tall as Nightshade, and had stylized engravings all along its length that seemed to radiate with blue energy that made her feathers stand up on end. Flamewar saw a white feather float down from the sky and looked up to see nearly over a dozen shapes heading towards them at high speeds.

"We've got company!" She said.

Nightshade looked up to see what could only be described as angels descended upon them in numbers. Now they looked nothing like traditional angels, they had vaguely humanoid forms mixed with avian features, their bodies made from marble clad in golden armor. Their heads were bird shaped but had no features other than a red helmet covering their stony skulls. In their three fingered hands, they harbored large golden spears with glowing markings on them that Nightshade knew were going to hurt if she touched them.

"What do we do?" Flamewar asked. "Fight or flight?"

"Fight. They'll chase us down if we try to run." Nightshade said.

The angels, known as the Affinity, all descended upon the two Cons like a flock of doves, aiming on smiting these unholy intruders. Nightshade pulled Gandiva's string back and fired an arrow, sending a loud thunderclap reverberating through the air and carving a path of carnage through the angels. Shaken by the initial attack, the Affinity regrouped and began throwing their spears at them, which wasn't such a bad thing, had the spears not turned into points of light that midway. Flamewar and Nightshade were forced to dodge the beams of light that burned deep holes into the ground where they impacted.

More Affinity's charged Nightshade, forcing her to forgo her bow in favor of her two swords, slashing and hacking away at these strange beings. Flamewar had to duck and dodge their relentless assault that kept her on her toes but unable to attack. She landed on a tree branch, but hissed as one of their spears sliced into her thigh, searing the armor as if it was superheated. When she took another spear to the shoulder and got the same results, she realized that these things were more dangerous than she thought.

"No more games." Flamewar growled and fired a couple of shots from her crossbow. The electromagnetically charged arrows that she fired smashed the Affinity's heads to dust, and easily pierced their rocky bodies. Flamewar smirked. "These things aren't so tough!"

As the femmes fought their enemies, the eye on the face of the pyramid began to glow. It slowly swerved on top of the obelisk until it was facing the direction the battle was taking place, then it began to glow with an unearthly light. The eye began gathering energy into single point emitting a low hum that grew louder as more energy was coalesced. When enough energy was charged, the pyramid fired a large beam that was so bright, it actually darkened the area for a moment.

Nightshade was the first to notice it, and her eyes went wide as she saw the beam heading their way. Knowing that they had only seconds to evade it, Nightshade didn't bother to verbally warn Flamewar, instead she jumped at the huntress and slammed into her, sending them both to the ground. The Affinitys were not so lucky, as they were vaporized on the spot as the beam hit their position. The impact resulted in a large explosion that evolved into a dome of fire so large that Nightshade and Flamewar were blasted away by the shockwave.

XXXXXXXX

From their vantage point on top of a hill, the kids and their guardians saw the obelisk fire a beam at an unseen target and heard the distant explosions on the other side of the island. It was followed by a faint aftershock that made the ground tremble.

"What was that?" Annie asked, not feeling as hot as she was earlier. Gina had wrapped a piece of cloth from her shirt around Annie's wound, after washing it at Sureshock's insistence. It still stung, but it would have to do for now.

"The obelisk." Runway answered. When he didn't elaborate further, High Wire urged him to continue explaining. "Don't ask me what that thing is. All I know is that it's at the center of the island. We learned the hard way that, that thing likes to take pot shots at targets randomly."

"And that thing is certainly packing some firepower." Sonar said. "Just stay out of its sight and you'll be fine."

"I like how you sound so blasé about a giant eye ball raining down hell on you." Grindor said.

"Eh," Jetstorm shrugged. "After a while you stop being afraid and just look at it like it's a ray of sunlight in your eye. You'll get used to it."

They continued their way, down the slope of the hill and towards a small canyon in the ground. As they walked, Darren hung back to have a quiet conversation with High Wire.

"So you guys seem to know each other very well." Darren said. He didn't hide the accusing tone in his voice. "You guys friends?"

High Wire knew that Darren had his suspicions about the relationship between the two teams. After Sparkplug's cover up about them being combiners, and Prowl's cover up of the Luna-2 massacre, the kids had been more careful to see what is a lie or truth. Enough friendships had been broken because of the need to keep secrets, and High Wire wasn't willing to risk his.

"Remember when I told you that my team was chosen to form a combiner team to protect the Minicons? Well, we weren't the only ones." He explained. "There were three other teams as well, combiners like us, but instead of becoming gestalts, they combined into weapons."

"A mix between combiner technology and the targetmaster technology that Songbird uses." Sureshock said. "We formed the Minicon's golden warrior, Centurion."

"And those other teams formed weapons for that warrior." Grindor finished.

The kids looked at their friends with a new sense of wariness. They knew that the combiner initiative was to protect themselves from Bulks-namely Decepticons-but there was an unspoken statement there that the Autobots were included in that category to. High Wire didn't need to see their faces to notice their distrust.

"I'm sorry, but we were desperate. The Luna-2 massacre was fresh in our minds, and with the growing Decepticons raids on our villages, we had to do something." High Wire said. "The Autobots may have wanted to help us one day, but there were a lot of Bots who wanted to see us Minicons dead or imprisoned, if nothing else than to deny granting the Cons more power. Sparkplug did what he had to for his people and so did we. I have no regrets."

"Runway, are those weapons you turn into strong enough to take out a Bot?" Gina asked.

"Oh yes, we were designed to be the most powerful weapons ever wielded by Minicons." Runway answered. "The Omnisaber, the Hydra Cannon and the Skyboom shield. They were designed to be super powerful enough to fight your average Bulk."

"But that's only if you hit them hard enough and in the right place." Sonar noted. "I'm sure you humans learned that the hard way."

"You could say that." Annie said dryly.

"Here we are! Home sweet home!" Runway declared. The kids and their guardians stopped next to their hosts and were surprised by what they saw.

When Runway said they had a base, they thought he meant some cave they held up that was outfitted with tech from their escape pod, hell even the pod itself. They weren't expecting to see a giant base that sat in the middle of the canyon. To the Minicons, it looked like a Cybertronian research outpost, albeit a smaller one.

It consisted of three metal domes, the largest one was connected to the smaller domes via see through bridges that were made from soft but strong material no doubt used for protection from outside forces. Next to the main dome was a tower of some kind, most likely a radio antennae used to communication. A small drone that looked like a small moon rover used by NASA quietly rolled along the ground, scouting the area with its long, snake-like head and sporting a turret on its back.

"This is your base?" Grindor gaped. "This place is fragging huge!"

"Did you build all of this?" Sureshock asked.

"Nope. Wish I could say yes, but we found this place after exploring the land around our escape pod." Runway said. "Come on, you need to meet Sara. She might be able to help you contact your friends."

"Sara?" Darren repeated. That sounded like a human name. Were there humans living on this strange island as well?

"She's the one who lived here before we came along. A bit of a strange girl, but you'll love her!" Sonar replied.

The AD team led their guests into the canyon, where they greeted the little drone named Roller. Roller waved its tiny arms at the kids and drove to the front door on squeaky wheels. It extended a tiny cord from its box-shaped body and turned it counter-clockwise until there was a click and the doors slid open. Runway and his team easily walked inside, but the kids and Street Team were a bit cautious.

"Should we go in?" Gina asked. "I mean, they seem trustworthy and all but…"

"The least we can do is give them the benefit of a doubt. They did save us." Grindor said.

"I agree, we need all the help we can get in this place if we want to make it out alive." Darren said. He looked at Annie's arm. "And I want Annie's arm looked at properly before we start getting our hands dirty."

"Well, if it's decided, let's go on in." High Wire said.

They entered the dome, and were greeted by a familiar sight. The inside of the dome looked rather cozy; sporting a little community area where there was a round table. Next to the dining area was a communications area with a large monitor and what looked like a munitions storage cage. It all looked so futuristic, yet the design of the interior reminded the kids of the escape pod where they found the Minicons.

"So where is this Sara? We could use her help right about now." Annie said.

"I am here." A soft voice said. "Who are all of you?"

"Sara! We're back, and we brought back some friends who might be able to help us." Runway told her.

Both the kids and Street Team looked at the newcomer with wide eyes. She was nothing like they had originally thought. Sara had a strange appearance; she had the face of a cute human girl and sported a large green gem in the middle of her forehead with dark emerald green eyes and long green hair that fell down her back in wild waves. But the rest of her body was completely robotic- a slender metal body with a feminine form and had a silver bow tied over her chest area. Her movements were stiff and precise and her eyes were dull and cold.

Sara wasn't a human at all. She was an android.

XXXXXXX

"I don't get paid for this." Flamewar growled as she drove through the grassy plains before her in her alt mode. Nightshade flew above her, flying as low as she possibly can to avoid getting shot out of the sky again.

"You don't need to get paid. Serving Megatron and reaping the rewards of being a Decepticons should be enough for you." Nightshade replied.

"Says hi arm warmer." Flamewar muttered.

Both femmes were not seriously harmed by the explosion, but they were injured nonetheless. Their bodies sported severe burns along the length of their armor, and their circuits were still registering the pain from being exposed to the intense flames of the explosion. It was dumb luck that they were just out of the blast's range. Still they had a job to do, and that was find out what was powering this false paradise.

"So what's our next move?" Flamewar asked. "I doubt its stand around for that freaky laser to roast us again."

"Obviously, this place is not natural, and whoever built that laser made it so that intruders won't live long enough to pervert its secrets." Nightshade jerked her beak at the obelisk. "That obelisk must be the center of the island. If we can take control of it, then we should have the entire island under our control."

"So you say," Flamewar said. "But I'll go with your plan. It's the only lead we have."

They sped into the forest, weaving through the widely spaced trees before they emerged into a small field of flowers. No sooner than they had reached the flowers, thorny roots shot up from the ground and lashed out at them.

"Slag!" Nightshade flew backwards to avoid the roots. She saw one hit a tree with enough force to shatter the trunk and knew that this wasn't normal.

Flamewar wasn't as lucky, she had to transform in order to flip out of the roots' reach, but another one caught her from behind and slammed into her torso. It felt like getting punched in the gut by Megatron, and the pain made her hit a tree and double over in pain. What the hell were these vines made of? Nightshade had enough of all this strangeness and fired off her volley of missile darts at the ground, setting the whole ground aflame with a ring of explosions that incinerated the flowers and caused the vines to shrivel up from the heat.

"Are you alright?" Nightshade asked. She landed beside Flamewar to help her up but the huntress pushed her away.

"I'm fine, just dazed. That hurt more than it should've." Flamewar said. Suddenly she heard the sound of laughter coming from the trees. "Huh?"

Nightshade transformed and drew out Gandiva, watching the area around her. The laughter came from all around them, and it reminded her of a group of human children giggling in tandem. It was an innocent sound, but it set her feathers on edge. She fired an arrow from Gandiva and filled the quiet air with the sound of thunder from her bow.

"Stop laughing and show yourselves cowards!" She shouted.

The laughter quieted down, and then small points of light began to appear above the burnt flower garden. When the lights died down, the Cons were met with a rather strange sight.

Before them flew small heads, each no bigger than a Cybertronian head, with wings where the ears would be, flapping so fast that they were barely visible. The heads had the faces of children, all smiling innocently but hiding a degree of malice behind their cheerful grins. At the front was another head that was much larger, and had the face of an old man with a short beard and stern sapphire eyes. They hovered around the femmes, laughing together as if they were playing a game, but Nightshade saw that they were blocking all routes of immediate escape.

"What the hell are they?" Flamewar asked, drawing her laser crossbow.

"Trouble. Don't ask questions, just kill them all and don't let them get a hit off you." Nightshade said.

"Speaking from experience?"

The flying heads, known as the Beloved, stopped circling around them and their faces split apart to reveal large blue crystals that crackled with energy. Nightshade readied Gandiva.

"You have no idea." She replied.

The Beloved's opened fire on the two femmes and the forest was engulfed in fire and lightning.

XXXXXXXX

"Uh," Darren didn't know what to say in this situation. He was still in shock from seeing this…girl, standing before them. He could tell that his friends had similar reactions, not ready for the strange appearance of the girl. "Hi there."

"Hello. I am Sara, the caretaker of this base." Sara said in a dull tone. "Who are you?"

"I'm Gina," Gina said, taking the initiative. "These are my friends, Darren and Annie, and our guardians, High Wire, Sureshock and Grindor."

Sara stared intently at Gina to the point where the blond began to get a little uncomfortable under her emerald gaze. The robot girl walked up to Gina and stared into her eyes unblinkingly.

"Are you really Gina Harkins?" She asked.

"Yes," Gina nodded and raised a brow. "But how do you know my first name? I never told you that."

"I cannot divulge that information. You specifically instructed me to not reveal any incriminating information to either you or your friends." Sara replied.

"I told you that?"

"Yes."

This was getting them nowhere. Darren stepped up to the girls, getting Sara's attention. "As fun as this is, we need help. Do you have a medical kit or something for my sister? She's hurt and-"

"I will lead her to the medical facility. It is within the other dome to your left." Sara said and briskly walked towards the sliding doors past what looked like a bedroom.

Annie gave Darren a nervous glance, but he nodded for her to go on. Grabbing Grindor's hand, she followed Sara out the room and through the little plastic tube that connected the main facility to the other domes. Once they were gone, Darren and Gina shared a look with their guardians.

"That was interesting." Sureshock said.

"Let's focus on contacting the Autobots." High Wire said. He turned to Runway. "Do you have any communication equipment we can use."

"You could use the console there by the energon tanks." Runway pointed to the computer, which was sitting next to a large tank full of multicolored liquid energon. "Don't expect to get any reception though, we've been trying to call people for ages and got nothing."

"There's probably some electromagnetic field surrounding the island that's blocking all radio waves." Gina said. "Your personal comm-units probably aren't strong enough to get through to the outside."

"I think I might have a way around that." High Wire took a seat and began typing on the console. He didn't voice his idea, but the others trusted him enough not to ask.

As Darren and High Wire were focused on their current task, Sureshock took Gina to the side to talk to her. "Gina, are you alright? You look a bit shaken."

"I'm fine, just…" Gina tried to find the words but they eluded her. "What did Sara mean by I told her not to tell us anything?"

"Don't ask me, I'm just as clueless as you are. What puzzles me is the fact that she's a robot, or at least an android. I know that she's not Cybertronian, so the others couldn't have made her." Sureshock deduced.

"Maybe she's human made?"

"Where do you think she was made? Look at her Gina, she's way too advanced to have been made by modern man, even beyond OZ's capabilities."

Gina shrugged. There were so many questions as it was, she had a hard enough time just dropping from exhaustion at this point. Still, looking at Sara, she couldn't help but feel that something was oddly familiar about her. Perhaps she was overreacting a little bit, but looking at Sara reminded her a bit about Darren.

"Ms. Gina," Speak of the devil. The robot girl entered the room with Grindor and Annie, who's arm was bandaged up and cleaned. "I have repaired your friend for you. Is there anything else you need assistance with?"

"No…yes, actually." She pointed at High Wire and the other Minicons. "We're trying to get a message out to the Autobots, er, our friends on the outside. Is there anything we can do to bypass the island's blackout zone?"

"Verbal communications are blocked by the sphere of energy that is keeping this island afloat." Sara explained. She walked over to the console and promptly pushed High Wire aside and began working. "If you want to alert others to your presence on the island, then you must send out a beacon. One that they will recognize."

"A beacon," Annie muttered. "What about a distress signal?"

"Like the one that we accidentally sent from Sparkplug's escape pod?" Darren asked.

"Yeah, except we can hide a message in it, like, uh, some kind of code." Annie continued. She had no idea what she was saying, but she hoped that they got the idea.

"I think I might have a way." Gina said and looked at Sara. "Sara, could you send something for me?"

"Of course Ms. Gina."

XXXXXXXX

"Optimus, I got something." Ratchet said.

Optimus walked up to Ratchet, who was working on the Teletran-1 terminal. "What is it, Ratchet?"

"Teletran-1 just picked up a signal from the north pole. It appears to be similar to the distress signal that the Minicon escape pod released." Ratchet said. He leaned in closer and squinted his eyes. "And I think there's an embedded code in there."

Ratchet typed a few keys and pressed ENTER. What came through the speakers wasn't a message, but some kind of tune-music. Optimus and Sparkplug looked confused as to what was going on, but it seemed that Ratchet knew exactly what it was.

"Music?" Sparkplug questioned. "Where did that come from?"

"It's a theme from one of my televisions shows that I watch," Ratchet said, though he seemed a bit embarrassed to admit that little tidbit. "I recognize the tune. And the only person who knows that I watch this is-Gina!"

"This is from her?" Optimus asked.

"Yes, I'm sure of it. The kids are not only telling us that they're alive, but their location as well!"

Optimus was silent for a moment, before a strong look came to his eyes, and he turned to Ratchet. "Ratchet, have the Autobots assemble in the shuttle bay on the double. We're storming that island and retrieving or friends."

"And if you meet resistance?" Ratchet inquired.

"Then we fight. I made a vow to protect those children and I stand by that vow, no matter what." Optimus said firmly. It was time to take the initiative and go on the offensive.

Unknown to him, Megatron was having the same thoughts. Soundwave, currently interfaced with the Nemesis' communications array, had detected a signal coming from the island-one that was eerily similar to the Minicon distress signal was started this whole pocket war in the beginning. Megatron instinctively thought that it was another collection of Minicons, but something reigned him in before he could come to that conclusion. That island was strange enough as it is, and he wondered if it was some trick-like that one cooked up by those three witches that tried to slag him. He had to be careful, since there were a lot of unknowns in play here.

Starscream had been watching his leader stand there like a bump on a log thinking to himself and was starting to get impatient, though he hid it well. He silently hoped that Nightshade was dead though, it'd be one less thing to worry about when he ascended to greatness.

"Megatron, what will be our course of action?" He asked.

Megatron took a few minutes to reply, then he turned to Soundwave. "Has there been any word from Nightshade or Flamewar?"

"No. we've lost contact the minute they entered the island." Soundwave reported. "Songbird stated that she lost sight of them the moment they vanished into the mist surrounding the island."

"Songbird? What's that little wretch doing away from her master?" Starscream frowned.

"Nightshade left her behind in case anything went wrong on the mission. She said that there were loud explosions going on within the cloud, then nothing."

"Hmm," Megatron grunted. This did not bode well. "Very well. Starscream, gather your Seekers and notify the others to mobilize immediately. We're taking that island."

"W-what? That's a bold move, Megatron." Starscream said surprised. "What brought this on? Seeking vengeance for your fallen bird?"

Megatron grabbed Starscream by the throat and pulled him in close. "I suggest you watch you tone with me, Starscream. I'm not in the mood." Megatron growled and threw Starscream to the floor. "That island is clearly artificial and must be using very advanced technology to remain afloat we obtain that technology, it will give us the edge we need over the Autobots and end this farce of a war. Now do as I say and GATHER OUR FORCES!"

Starscream scrambled to his feet and bowed his head muttering 'yes Megatron' before running out of the bridge. Soundwave made to move, but Megatron stopped him.

"You stay here under Knockout's watch," He said. "You have not fully recovered, and if those psychic attacks hit you again, you will only be a liability."

Soundwave was silent for a moment, but he bowed his head in submission, though Megatron could sense that he wanted to come along to make sure that Nightshade was safe. The two had known each other long before the Decepticons were even a concept, and Megatron understood that he was worried for her, but she could take care of herself just fine. Besides, Nightshade would literally try to bite his head off if she learned that he sent Soundwave out after his little episode earlier.

"As you command, Megatron." Soundwave intoned.

Megaton nodded and motioned for Leader-1 to follow him. They had a big day ahead of them, and lots of work to be done.

XXXXXXX

"It's done." Sara said. "I cannot confirm that the message was received, but I can say that whoever finds it will know our location."

"That's all we can hope for Sara. Thank you." Gina said, smiling softly.

"So what do we do now? Just wait for something to happen?" Grindor asked.

"I don't see being able to do anything else at the moment." High Wire said.

Annie plopped herself down onto a chair and leaned back with a sigh. They had been going nonstop since earlier this afternoon and this was the first time she had time to rest up. For once, Annie was content to sit still and wait to see what happens.

"Well, there's nothing else to do but wait for our friends to pick us up and get us off this hell hole." She yawned. "Wake me up when this is over."

"Whoa, hold on!" Darren said. "We can't just sit here and do nothing!"

"We can't? But that seems like a much better alternative than getting ripped to shreds by giant lion dog things." Grindor said. The Air Defense team nodded in agreement.

"No, have you guys forgotten about that giant eye beam that's sitting only a few miles from us?" He asked. "That thing just fired off a shot that could blow the Bots away before they even realize what's going on. They don't know what we know."

"So what do suggest we do?" High Wire asked, though he had a feeling as to what Darren was planning.

"We take that thing out before it destroys us or the Autobots." Darren said strongly.

Everyone looked at him then at each other, not really knowing how to respond to that. He was right of course, that obelisk was a danger that needed to be taken care of, but the question was how. They weren't exactly powerhouses, combiner or not.

"How do we destroy it exactly, Darren?" Grindor asked. "That thing's like as tall as a small apartment building."

"And it's heavily guarded." Runway stated. "Did I mention that? No? Sorry then."

"We just can't sit here! I'm willing to fight, and I know the rest of you are to." Darren grunted and ran his hand through his hair. He looked at the Minicons, who seemed to agree with his sentiments but were still hesitant.

"Darren, we understand where you're going with this, but it's not that simple." Sureshock said. "We're outnumbered and underpowered here, trying to start a fight now will only end badly for all of us. There's nothing we can do."

"If it is firepower you are in need of, then perhaps I can be of assistance." Sara said, gaining everyone's attention. They almost forgot about her, seeing as she was quiet the whole time.

"What do you mean, Sara?" Gina asked.

"I have a way to boost out firepower enough to storm the obelisk," Sara turned to the kids. "And I need you three to help me."

XXXXXXX

The endgame was coming, this was the thought that both Optimus and Megatron had on their minds the whole time they were gearing up for what was possibly the most dangerous mission yet in their campaign on Terra. Miraculously, both leaders had proposed the exact same plans of infiltrating the island that was by now classified as a hostile enemy fortress; though Megatron was the only one who had an idea as to what they were fighting against.

Optimus and Megatron were treating this like a siege assault; they had to hit hard and quick before the enemy could gather together their forces. And to do this, they had to perform an instant strike. The method of doing this maneuver was something that would be considered crazy by normal standards.

"You want me to what?" Ratchet gaped.

"Ground bridge us on top of the island, Ratchet. We're going in and we're going in heavy." Optimus said.

"Optimus, think about this-" Optimus held up his hand.

"I have, old friend. And this is the only way." He said. "We have no idea as to who is our enemy, or if there is an enemy at all, but that island is clearly something unnatural to this world, and whoever created it could prove to be dangerous to the children and Minicons. I am not taking any chances here."

After hearing from Jetfire about the floating island that was roaming around the north pole, and realizing that was where the signal had come from, Optimus was gearing up for war-a different one. He was never a mech to condone excessive violence, but whoever made that island clearly didn't want to be found, and if that was the case, then they would take great measures to ensure that whoever finds their island will be eliminated to keep their secret. The burning Matrix in his chest was evidence of this.

Ratchet, though reluctant, knew that he couldn't change Prime's mind when he was like this, and thus conceded to follow his orders. Optimus turned to his team, who were ready and waiting with a full loadout of weaponry from their munitions vault and even with some of the Minicons along for the ride.

"Autobots, I will be honest with you. I do not know what threats we will face, or how dangerous our excursion will be, but I do know this," He said. "Our friends, members of Team Prime, are trapped on that island without any way of getting off. I won't ask you to risk your lives for me, but do it for them, as they would have for all of you."

"No need to try to guilt trip us boss bot." Jazz said. "We're going in with no regrets."

"Save for the usual." Wheeljack muttered. Bulkhead nudged his shoulder.

Though he couldn't physically show it, Optimus smiled at his team. Truly they were some of the best warriors a commander could have. Hefting Sparkplug onto his shoulder, and his Ion cannon onto his other one, Optimus faced the ground bridge as it activated and gave the command.

"Autobots," He yelled. "Transform and roll out!"

The Autobots took their alt modes and drove into the ground bridge, where they were instantly transported into the frigid climate of the frozen north. They angled their bodies so that they fell straight down into the cloud that concealed the island, and let gravity do the rest. Jetfire flew around them so as to keep them from getting any surprise attacks as they made their entry.

Just as Nightshade noted earlier, falling through the cloud was like pushing through a planet's atmosphere. The Autobots were actually pushed back a little as they managed to brave through the first challenge of the island and emerged out of the cloud towards their destination. To their surprise, they already saw a huge battle going on down below.

"What's going on?" Ironhide yelled over the violent winds pushing against his form.

"It's Cons!" Jetfire yelled over the . "Megs is here with nearly his entire squad and their duking it out with these huge bird things!"

"What bird things?" Arcee asked.

"Those bird things!"

Jetfire transformed and drew his particle cannon as an entire Host of Affinities flew towards the falling Autobots. Optimus, Ironhide and Bulkhead, the heavier ones who could stick their landings without any problem, transformed and drew their weapons as well. In no time at all, the entire sky was alight with blaster fire and missiles shooting every which way as the three Autobots covered their much lighter friends. Jetfiire was the only one who was making headway, shooting down the stone angels then switching to jet mode in a blink so that he could shoot them down with heat seeking missiles.

"We're coming down to the surface!" Jazz yelled. "Fire your grappling lines!"

Jazz, Bumblebee, Prowl and Arcee fired their lines at the nearest trees, while Wheeljack simply activated jump jets in his forelegs so slow himself down enough in order to hit the ground in a roll and jump to his feet. Optimus and Ironhide hit the trees and landed on their feet, except Bulkhead, who fell on his back.

"Up and at 'em, kid! No time for lying on the job!" Ironhide helped Bulkhead up and began shooting the Affinities out of the sky. But the more he shot down, more took their place, flying in from whatever hole they nested in. "Prime, these things are gonna overrun us if we don't move!"

"Wheeljack, find the origin point of the distress signal now!" Prowl ordered. But the engineer was already on the job, using his built-in radar dish (which he just modified into his hand that morning) to locate any unusual pulse waves in the area.

"It's going to take some time!" He said.

"Don't worry Jackie, we've got some time to kill." Jazz said, slicing the head off one of the angelic beings. Then he felt the ground tremble.

Optimus felt it to, and he was forced to jump to the side to avoid getting cut in half by a large golden axe that flew from the trees. The ground trembled as a gigantic being, one similar to the Affinity angels, came stomping out of the brush.

The Autobots had never seen anything like it. It looked like some deformed Greco-Roman statue, large with stony skin and bulging muscles. Its form was hunched over with a red jewel on its back that glowed with power. Its thick, trunk-like legs were equally as thick as the rest of its body, and it lumbered forward like a hunchback brute as it grabbed its axe and swung it around with a deceptive amount of skill. The strangest thing about this thing was that its face was that of a stoic, cherubic child, calm and serene, though strange garbled roars were emitted from an opening in its neck. The Brave looked down at the puny Autobots and raised its axe in a war cry as it charged at them.

Jazz closed his mouth, which was hanging open and raised his cryo-emitter. "I take it back, make it snappy Jackie!"

XXXXXXXX

Sara had taken the kids out of the base and lead them towards a large cave near the facility. The Minicons were reluctant to let their friends go alone with this rather sketchy android, but Darren had assured them that they would be fine, though he was nervous as to what Sara needed them for. She took them into the cave and didn't stop walking until they reached a dead end, puzzling the kids.

"Uh, what are we doing here?" Annie asked.

Sara said nothing, she simply took Gina's hand and pressed it against the wall. Gina was about to ask what she was doing, when the spot where her hand was began to glow, and she felt her palm getting scanned. The kids were shocked silent as the ground beneath them began to descend into earth, revealing it to be an elevator. The ride down only took a few short minutes, and soon they all found themselves deep inside a large dark cavern that was pitch black.

"You once told me that if I were to ever meet you," Sara said to Gina. "Then I was to give you three these. You said that it would help greatly in the future."

"I said that? Sara what are you…?" Gina trailed off as Sara pressed some unseen switch and the lights turned on, momentarily blinding them. When their eyesight returned, they were shocked speechless.

"Oh my god." Darren gasped.

They were standing in a large underground hangar, like the ones the military used, but much more unorganized and messy than an ordinary one. But the kids were more interested in the three Talos that were sitting within their own holding cages. The mecha were fancier and more aesthetically pleasing to the eye than the usual Talos used in most militaries, each sporting a slender, streamlined design more in line with OZ's mecha, but looked rather futuristic in terms of design.

The Talos were not all that tall, only standing at 4 meters, the standard height for most Talos in this age, but each unit had different features that made them unique. The Talos on the right was mostly red with gold armor plating on the biceps and thighs, sporting an average design common in most bipedal Talos. The Talos in the middle was a mixture of black and grey, and had a large arsenal of weaponry; a minigun on the left shoulder, a missile launcher on the right shoulder, a wrist cannon on the right arm and nothing on the left arm, though it probably had something hidden in there. The last Talos on the left was the most tame of the three, white with bits of purple along the torso, arms and legs. Unlike the black Talos, it didn't have any visible weapons aside from the cannons on its arms, and the large mean looking cannon on its back connected to a large backpack.

All in all, they were beautiful, but the kids were confused as to what they were for.

"Sara, what is all this?" Darren asked.

"These are the Talos that you will be piloting now and into the future." Sara answered. "They are the Omega Talos, powered by third generation Apollo Drives, and equipped with the best weaponry that are most suited to your personalities and fighting styles. They will be your Talos; Darren, you will have the Prometheus, Annie, you will have the Enyo, and Ms. Gina, the Athena is yours." She faced the children. "You three wanted to help the Autobots, so this is your chance."

"This is awesome!" Annie gushed. She made a B line for the black one. "Dibs on the bad boy here!"

"Wha-no! No one is piloting anything here!" Darren said and glared at Sara. "I don't know what game you're trying to play, but we're not as gullible as we look."

Annie raised a finger. "Actually-"

"Shut up Annie!" Darren yelled. "Do you actually think that we're just going to wear these things and go waltzing out here like heroes? None of us know how to even pilot a Talos, let alone fight in one. There's a reason people need a license to use one!"

"I am not playing any games that I know of," Sara replied. "I am merely doing as I am ordered by-"

"Who? Gina? For god's sakes you just met her! How can she order you to do anything when she didn't even know you existed until now?"

"I am not at liberty to answer that question."

Darren was about to restrain her with his telekinesis when they all felt the room shake. Up above they heard the sound of explosions going off, and some dirt from the cave ceiling fell onto them.

"What is that?" Annie asked.

"It would appear that your Autobots have encountered the natives of this island." Sara mildly noted. She turned towards Darren. "I understand your trepidation, but time is of the essence. It is paramount that you don these suits and destroy the obelisk. It is the focal point of the island and most likely the source of their power. Destroy it, and your friends are safe."

Darren didn't look convinced, but Gina placed a hand on his shoulder to get his attention. "Darren, we don't have time. If what she says is true, then the Autobots are outclassed here. We need to act now."

"I know, but," Darren huffed and shook his head. Hearing more explosions go off outside, he was forced to make his decision. "Fine, we'll go. But if this turns out to be a trap…"

Sara shook her head, giving them a smile for the first time since they met her. "This is no trap, but an opportunity. A chance to become more than what you already are. A chance to become warriors."

XXXXXXX

Sonar whistled as he saw the bright explosions going off in the distance. He could see the Autobots heading their way, but with three Braves chasing after them, along with a flock of Affinities that were taking pot shots at them with their "magical" spears (as dubbed by Runway). They were holding their own, but his main concern was that they were heading their way with the baddies on their tail, and that was not exactly ideal for the Minicons just barely scraping by.

"What do you see?" High Wire shouted up to him.

"Lots of explosions, Autobots fighting those freaky statue things," Sonar reported. "And they're heading our way with a lot of slag on them."

"I've got the same thing here, except there's a lot of scary Decepticons coming towards us instead." Jetstorm said. "I don't like scary things Sonar."

"Me neither, Jetstorm." Sonar replied, flying back down to the earth with his partner and returning to robot mode.

High Wire sighed. Gina's plan worked, but a bit too well, not only were the Autobots heading towards them, but also the Decepticons as well. Once the two met in the middle, the entire canyon will become a warzone. They needed to get to safety fast.

"What is taking them so long?" Grindor growled. "We've got a storm coming, and they're fooling around with HAL's little sister."

"Calm down, they'll be here soon." Sureshock said calmly. But she did hope that they got here quickly.

"We're back!" Annie's voice yelled from the door, though her voice sounded muffled, like she was talking through speaker. The Minicons ran outside to greet their friends.

"Finally! We were worried about…"Grindor trailed off as he and the others took in the sight before them.

Instead of their three human friends, three large Talos stood in their place; one red and gold, one black, and, one white and purple. Each step they took made the ground shake a bit, though their movements were a bit uneven and janky. Sara was sitting on top of Gina's white unit the Athena, guiding them as they stopped in front of the Minicons.

"High Wire," Darren's voice came from the external speakers of the red and gold Prometheus. "You better bring out Centurion. Because we're going to storm that castle."


	25. The Original Sin part 3

Chapter 25-The Original Sin part 3

Piloting a Talos was an alien experience for the kids, who had never even been near a Talos in their 13 years of life. It was a chore just learning how to walk, touch and turn their machines in such a way that they weren't hazardous to the surrounding environment. Learning how to pilot a Talos took time and training to perfect, even soldiers needed at least two months of training in order to pilot their own unit. The kids had to learn what would normally take months in the span of minutes, and under combat conditions to.

The cockpit itself was one thing, it was compact, but not too constricting that it felt suffocating inside. There were no video monitors sitting in front of and on both sides of the pilot seat. Instead the cockpit sported a 360 panorama that was composed of multiple smaller monitors that together made up a 360 degree display that, which covered the entire inner surface of the spherical cockpit. The pilot seat sported no seatbelts, but Sara had assured them that it was a safety precaution that electromagnetically countered G-forces and impact shocks to protect the pilot. Combined with the 360-degree panoramic screen, it gave the pilot a larger field of view and eliminated blind spots.

The controls were very responsive as well, with the joysticks and pedals that controlled the Talos' arms and legs being fluid and precise, more so than normal Talos. This proved to be a bit of a problem considering Gina had nearly knocked her and Darren down while trying to move forward. Sara said the controls were designed to simple enough that an elementary school student could use them, but they needed a lot of practice to utilize these bad boys effectively. They were less than novices, certified noobs in Annie's book, but these Talos were way too advanced to have been made by human hands.

Currently, the children were heading towards the obelisk with Centurion following behind them, and in the gestalt's hands was the omni-saber, the combined form of the Air Defense Team. The sword was almost as large as Centurion himself, but he carried it with ease as if it weighed no heavier than a feather. Sara was sitting on the Athena, trying to be as close as possible to Gina for some reason that she refuses to disclose. The band of misfits stopped on top of a hill overlooking the clearing where the obelisk was situated.

Even through looking through the eyes of their Talos, the kids were in awe at the sight. The obelisk was tall, reaching high above them and ending in a magnificent looking pyramid with a single eye on all four of its sides. It looked much bigger up close, and its shiny black onyx composition made it look imposing. But not as imposing as the group of brutish looking Braves that formed a circle around the perimeter of the structure.

"So what's the plan, fearless leader?" Annie asked. She sat back in her seat and looked at the creatures milling about below her. It reminded her of her little stint with Odin and his retinue, how they almost killed her and her friends. It made her tighten her hold on her joysticks. She was not going to be helpless like that ever again.

"Should we try to create a diversion?" Gina suggested. "Draw them away from the obelisk then double back before they can regroup?"

The pyramid fired another beam from its eye, this time at a trio of small dots in the distance. Centurion recognized them as the Seekers. He noted that Starscream was nicked by the heat beam and was sent falling to earth.

"No time. We're going to have to go in." Centurion said, raising his sword. A white energy field covered the saber's component parts, enhancing the blade's sharpness while also keeping the combiners themselves safe. "We must strike now."

"On it." Annie grinned. She pressed a button and Enyo's targeting systems locked onto all of the Braves that were closest to her. Once she was locked on, Annie pressed the trigger and let loose four of her six missiles from the shoulder-mounted launcher.

They watched as the small but deadly projectiles flew towards their targets. The Braves didn't notice, or rather ignored, the missiles until all four hit their targets, blasting off the heads of four Braves in one go. Their bodies fell to the ground, where they began to fall to pieces. The Braves looked down at the crumbling bodies of their brothers, then looked up at the three Talos and the Minicon gestalt with the oversized sword.

It was only a second before the Braves opened their grotesque neck-mouths and gave deafening roars that sent shivers down the kids spines. After having their little temper tantrum, the Braves charged the hill with their axes raised, looking far more terrifying now that their rage was directed right at them.

"We have their attention," Gina said nervously. "So what now?"

Sara jumped off the Athena's shoulder onto the ground, then underwent a drastic transformation of her own. A panel opened up on her back and three blades popped out, held aloft by thin strings nearly invisible to the naked eye. The blades unfolded and extended outwards, floating around her in orbit. Her hands shifted into two small but deceptively powerful pulse cannons that charged up at her mental command. Even her bland stare shifted into a hard glare to show her seriousness. Sara was no longer the docile android she was just seconds ago, she was combat ready.

"We fight." Sara said. "As you once said Ms. Gina, onward into the fire we go."

The kids, Centurion and Sara all charged forward, beginning the battle that will either make or break their potential as warriors. At that moment, all their earlier reservations about piloting a Talos into battle faded away. This was their chance to make a difference, not on the sidelines, but on the field. They knew it was dangerous, that they could die, but more than just their lives were at stake. The Autobots had risked life and limb for them numerous times. Now it's time for them to return the favor.

XXXXXXXX

The Decepticon invasion of Brigadoon had begun smoothly, at first. They ground bridged above the island as planned and fell through its thick, atmospheric cloud and landed on the accursed island. But as soon as they touched down, they were assaulted by these strange angelic beings who attacked them en masse. They weren't hard to shoot down, but their numbers took them off guard. Lugnut and Blackout were already shooting down the ones that landed, while the Seekers were busy engaging in dogfights above their heads. Megatron was firing blasts from his fusion cannon, destroying large numbers of Affinities, only for more to come from whatever hive they crawled out of. It was getting annoying, and Megatron didn't like to be annoyed in the middle of a battle.

Megatron eyed the obelisk a few miles from him, but his attention was divided between his objective and finding Nightshade. He didn't like having himself distracted like this, but she was a valuable player in this Terran war game, and losing her was something he could not afford.

"Search," He looked at the Minicon at his feet. "Have you located Nightshade yet."

Search was in his alt mode doing what he did best, recon. Leader-1 stood next to him for protection as he tried to scan the local area for any other Decepticon signals. He wasn't usually this dedicated to doing his job, but seeing as how high strung Megatron got when Nightshade was in danger, he figured that it would be better for his health that he made an effort not to piss him off.

"I'm still trying to find her, lord Megatron," Search said, his mind still focused on sensing something nearby. "But it might take some time."

"We don't have time, you fool!" Leader-1 growled. "Work faster. Boost the power to your sensors."

"They're already bordering in the red zone you piece of slag!" Search replied. He did not like being rushed, especially by a yes man like Leader-1. "If you think you can do a better job, then be my guest. At least I'm better at fighting than you."

"Does this look like the time to be fighting, you fools?" Megatron shouted. "Focus on the task at hand Search, or I will have Scalpel dismantle you alive!"

Search did as his master commanded. Leader-1 was about to gloat when Megatron called out his name. "Y-yes, lord Megatron?"

"If you are done cementing you position as alpha, then would you mind powerlinking with me?" Megatron asked menacingly. "If that isn't too much to ask?"

"At once, my lord!" Leader-1 transformed and attached himself to Megatron's left arm. The process sent a surge of energy coursing through Megatron, and the warlord grinned as he brought out a long cobalt blade from his left arm, one that was coated in electricity.

"Lord Megatron!" Blackout shouted from above. "Something is happening on top of the obelisk!"

Megatron turned towards the obelisk and saw a bright light shining from the face of the pyramid on top. As the light grew brighter, Megatron's instincts told him to move, and he did. "Get away from the area!"

The other Decepticons didn't waste time in following his command, all save Starscream, who was shooting down one last boogey before falling back. He didn't expect a huge heat beam to come shooting past him, dangerously close, and hitting the ground near them. The Seeker yelped as he felt his armor warp slightly from the intense heat, and he and the other flyers were blown away by the huge explosion that erupted afterwards. Megatron, Barricade, and Lugnut were also blasted away by the force of the explosion, sent flying in separate directions.

"What is this trickery?" Megatron grunted as he skidded along the ground before stopping himself. He looked at the pyramid and saw that it was gearing up for another shot. "Damn!"

Megatron transformed and drove as fast as he could to avoid the second blast that was fired at him. Once again, he was sent flying from the explosion, which didn't seem any less powerful than the one before it. So not only did this thing have a fast recharge cycle, it was able to fire beams of energy repeatedly without losing energy or overheating. It was just his luck that he would be within its sights.

But Megatron couldn't help but realize that this weapom would be absolutely perfect to fit on the Nemesis. Sure, it was too big to move, but he could worry about the details later. Studying this island's technology might even give them the chance to leave this accursed planet for good and return with a whole fleet of Decepticons. Just the thought of it gave Megatron the strength to continue fighting.

Leader-1, sensing his leader's thoughts, would've sighed if he could. They were in the middle of trying not to get destroyed by a giant laser, and Megatron was already making plans on what to do with the thing before all this was over? It was a bit ill-timed, but he couldn't fault him. Say what you want about Megatron, but he certainly knew how to think long term.

"Megatron!"

Megatron transformed and turned to see Nightshade and Flamewar running in his direction. They both looked like they had been through hell and back, but were mostly in one piece and in fighting shape. But then he looked behind them and saw a large, serpentine creature slithering after them, flying through the air without any visible means of propulsion. It was an Inspired, a beast just like the one Bulkhead fought in Midgard, but it was much larger, and faster. Nightshade was firing Gandiva at it to stall its advance, but the beast dodged most of the arrows faster than even Megatron's keen eyes could follow.

"Lugnut," The bruiser turned to his master. Megatron pointed in Nightshade's direction. "Destroy that beast and lay down some cover."

"As you command, my lord." Lugnut bowed and motioned for Search to link up with him. The Minicon fixed himself onto Lugnut's arm and the mech's hand transformed into a pressure pad-one that hid Lugnut's destructive gravity bomb.

The red and gold draconic Inspired chased after Nightshade and Flamewar without pause. It snapped its jaws at them like a snake-and with the same lightning fast reflexes as one to. Nightshade fired Gandiva and her hearing was filled with the whipping crackle of thunder, but the arrow only grazed the Inspired as it shot past her offense and whipped its tail around. Both Cons were hit hard by its ruby red tail, hitting them with bone crushing force and sent them crashing through the ground before rolling to a stop. The Inspired coiled its body and shot forward like a bullet, intending on snapping at least one of them in its jaws.

But its assault was interrupted by a rain of cluster bombs that hit its long body, blasting it from the air and sending it to the ground. Flamewar looked up and saw Lugnut running at the serpent with his mace held high, bellowing a war cry that was not suited for the occasion.

"Face me beast! Fight a warrior who is not injured, or are you a coward?" Lugnut yelled.

"What the hell is he doing?" Flamewar asked.

"What he does best." Nightshade replied and ran forward.

The Inspired, far from stupid, accepted Lugnut's challenge, shooting over to him within seconds and raising itself to its full height. Lugnut swung his mace at its long body, but it thrashed its tail and smack him aside with ease. But it was caught off guard when Lugnut grabbed its tail and held onto it.

"Lady Nightshade!" Lugnut yelled.

"I know!" Nightshade used the jets in her feet to jump up high above the Inspired and point Gandiva at it. The serpent spun around just in time to see Nightshade's smirk before its head was blown off in a shower of ruby crystals. Its headless body fell to the ground lifelessly, and Lugnut along with it.

"Lady Nigtshade," Lugnut righted himself and ran over to his superior, getting on one knee. "It's is good to see that you are safe."

"Nice to know you care so much for me." Flamewar drawled.

"Silence, heathen! I am speaking to our mistress!" Lugnut shouted.

"Lugnut, what's the situation?" Nightshade asked.

"We are heading to take the island into our control, but we're under attack by these strange creatures who are holding us back." He reported.

Nightshade narrowed her eyes at the Affinities swarming the other Decepticons. "I can see that."

"Then I shouldn't need to explain to your little predicament involving the obelisk's power." Megatron walked up to them. "It is good to see that you are in one piece, Nightshade."

"We're not safe until we can get that tower offline."

"Any suggestions?" He asked.

Nightshade bit her lip and shook her head. "I've ran the possible scenarios in my mind already. If the tower doesn't shoot us down, then we're going to get overpowered in a Spark pulse. There's very little options that we can take."

"Don't forget the Autobots are here as well." Flamewar chimed in.

"What?" Megatron looked at the huntress with blazing eyes. "How do you know that?"

Flamewar tapped her chest plate. "I can feel Arcee's presence close by. And if she's in this hellhole, then she' probably not alone."

Megatron took a deep breath to calm himself. Of course the Autobots would be here, making things more complicated. And if he knew Optimus, then chances are that the entire god forsaken team was on the island as well. Fighting two enemies at once might be too much for his men, but that didn't mean he was backing down from this. The floating island will be his!

"Megatron," Nightshade said. "We have two choices here. Storm the obelisk in an all-out assault, or try to lower the enemies numbers enough to approach the tower without wasting too much power. Either way we'll be hit from both side pretty hard."

Megatron looked at her, then at the obelisk. For some reason, it wasn't taking a shot at them now, not that he was complaining. Still, it was an unpredictable element that needed to be taken out before it could cause him any more problems. The enforcers were merely cannon fodder.

"Nightshade, send the word out for the others to regroup." Megatron ordered. "We're storming the obelisk, and taking that pyramid even if I have to tear the whole tower from the ground myself!"

XXXXXXXX

The Autobots were having about the same amount of luck the Decepticons were with their enemies, only they weren't fighting any more. Optimus was leading the charge through the vast fields with the rest of his Autobots as they drove through the plain towards the location beacon sent by the kids. Behind them, a small army of Braves were in hot pursuit, their weapons raised high and roaring like animals as they chased after their escaped quarry. Optimus wouldn't have even considered the idea, seeing as they were leading these strange beings straight to the kids and Minicons, but Jetfire picked up their slack by shooting the Braves down with his missiles and Vulcan rounds.

"Jetfire, how are things going up there?" Optimus asked.

"About as good as it can be Prime." Jetfire answered, shooting down another Brave with his dual particle cannons. "But these guys are hard to take down. If I keep this up, I'll run out of juice before the party starts to kick off."

"Just hold on as long as you can until we can find a way to take them all out at once." Optimus replied.

That was easier said than done. The Braves were not only strong but durable, with their stony hides so strong that it even took a few direct hits from Prime's ion cannon to take just one down. Their strength was enough to make even Ironhide back off and their weapons-something about those axes they wielded made it so that they were scalding hot to the touch, like they were made of white fire. It was getting to the point that Optimus ordered everyone to break off their engagement and regroup until they could think of a more effective strategy that didn't involve getting beaten into the ground.

" _Optimus Prime,"_ A soft voice whispered in Optimus's comm channel-a private one that he rarely used except for certain situations. " _Can you hear me?"_

Optimus kept the surprise out of his voice and was immediately cautious. "I can," He replied. "Who is this?"

" _I am Sara, a fifth generation bioroid at the service of Ms. Gina Harkins. Your friends, both human and Minicon are safe in my care, but time is of the essence."_

"What do you mean?"

" _That obelisk before you is the focal point of this island that also acts as a control center. It manages the biomes and ecosystems on this island, and also provides the anti-gravity lift that keeps it afloat."_ Sara explained quickly. " _It is also its primary defense systems, as I'm sure you've already learned. I am currently with the children and the Minicons attacking the obelisk right now in order to take it over and gain control of this island, but we need more time."_

"So you're asking me to provide a distraction." It wasn't a question, it was a statement. He didn't ask why the kids were aiding in this little assault and he figured that she wouldn't tell him even if he asked.

" _Yes, that is correct."_ There was a slight pause before Sara spoke again. " _I must go. There will be reinforcements soon, and I must aid Ms. Gina in making an entry point."_

"Wait!" Optimus said but Sara had already signed off. "Damn."

Jetfire swooped in low for another attack, but was caught off guard when one of the Braves threw its axe at him. In a single slice, the axe blade cut through his wing and sent him spiraling out of control. Seeing that the method had proven effective, the other Braves threw their axes at Jetfire as well, and the Autobot was forced to avoid getting cut in half while also trying to control his descent.

"It's just not worth getting up in the morning!" Jetfire yelled as he crashed into the ground, switching to robot mode from the impact and rolling across the ground in a cloud of dirt and grass. Comettor also went flying off his partner, hitting the ground at speeds that would kill a human pilot.

"Optimus! Jetfire just went down!" Ironhide announced.

' _It appears that the choice was just made for me,'_ Optimus thought. ' _I'm sorry children, but you have to wait for us just a little longer.'_

Optimus swerved around in a tight circle, doing an about-face as he drove back the way he came. He saw Jetfire on the ground, cradling the unconscious Comettor with the Braves closing in on him. Optimus kicked it into overdrive, speeding up until he was just on top of them and transformed. He used the momentum he built up to push himself off the ground and into the air above Jetfire, linking with Sparkplug and drawing his ion cannon, shooting two Braves in the head and deploying his heated battle blade to cut down anything in his way. The red hot sword cut through their stone skin like butter, and the Prime felled three of them in a single, well placed swipe.

The surviving Braves prepared to attack him, but an onslaught of blaster bolts, missiles and rockets hit them with the force of a hurricane. The other Autobots fired upon their enemies without hesitation and drove the Braves back with their surprising amount of firepower. Optimus helped Jetfire to his feet.

"Jetfire, are you alright?" Optimus asked.

"Comettor is knocked out, but I'm fine." Jetfire groaned, looking at his damaged wing. It was still emitting smoke from where the axe blade cut into it, and it stung like acid. That was going to hurt in the morning.

"If you can still fight, then get ready to jump back in." Optimus raised his ion cannon and fired an ion blast that shot the head of a Brave trying to attack them. Its body skidded through the dirt and stopped at Prime's feet. "We need to hold these creatures off for as long as we can."

"Whoa, what for?" Jetfire asked. "I thought we were going to get the kids and Minicons?"

"The plan has changed a bit. The kids are in the middle of something and we need to stall these beings for as long as possible." Optimus explained. "Are you with me?"

Jetfire looked at Prime before taking out his particle cannon. "Do you need to ask?"

Optimus nodded and the two Autobots ran back into the battle, weapons firing on all spectrums, not letting up. Prime wasn't sure that this was the best course of action, but he had to trust the kids on this one and for High Wire's team to keep them safe. However, as he stabbed his heat blade into a Brave's back, he felt that this was not the worst this island had to offer.

And still the Matrix burned.

XXXXXXXX

The battle at the foot of the obelisk was going pretty swell for a trio of novice Talos pilots, a Minicon gestalt and an android. The kids were getting the hang of their Talos, and the machines moved a lot more fluidly than they thought they would. Not to mention the weapons that they were equipped with were very powerful.

The Prometheus was a basic mid to close range fighter, equipped with what Sara called a beam rifle. It was basically a large gun that drew power from the main suit's generator, the Apollo drive-which Sara never bothered to explain except that it was a kind of solar reactor-via a small connector in its hand and condensed the energy into a beam of ionized particles that were extremely powerful. Darren found that he liked this weapon as he had his suit fire it at the attacking Braves. If any Braves were lucky enough to get in close, Darren pressed a button and the Talos drew a long pinkish white blade of pure energy, a beam saber, that sliced easily through the stone.

Gina's Athena had no other weapons aside from two pulse cannons in its arms that worked the same as the beam rifle, drawing energy from the Apollo Drive to power its pulse blasts. She stayed right next to Darren, firing her Talos' weapons as soon as it locked onto a target. All she had to do was pull the trigger and the Athena's computer systems did the rest. She was considered using the beam cannon on her back, but Sara had cautioned against using that until they had to.

Annie was off on her own, punching and shooting down the Affinities that swarmed them. As the one who was the most comfortable in her Talos, she was not afraid of doing complicated and risky tricks to take out her foes. The Enyo was geared for mainly long range combat, but there was a blade sheathed in the left arm that was sharp enough to stab through the stony hide of the Braves. Its thick armor was strong enough to endure the free hits the Braves dished out as she gutted them close quarters and used her wrist cannon to shoot down the flyers.

"This is awesome!" Annie laughed. A Brave came up behind her and she swerved her missile launcher to fire a missile at its raised arm, causing it and the axe it held to fall to the around. Annie spun the Enyo around to stab its blade into its baby face and rip it to shreds.

"Annie, please take this seriously." Darren cautioned. But he to felt the rush of battle flowing through his veins and it both scared and excited him in equal measure.

"I am taking this seriously," Annie replied. "Did you see how many I killed already? 8 brutes in ten minutes, and I didn't even have to use my minigun. Try to beat that record!"

"Speak for yourself, I took out

As the kids handled the heavy hitters, Centurion was using the omni-saber to slice down the Affinities, though he barely had any time to shine as Sara flicked across his view. She was a certified war machine, jumping and leaping through the air firing her arm cannons and avoiding the spears and large stone fists thrown her way. She used her size to her advantage, dodging and ducking, while shooting her laser bolts at the limbs and joints of the Braves while avoiding the swooping aerial dives of the Affinities.

Sara did a backflip off the back of a Brave and landed at the foot of the obelisk, with the black wall behind her. A Brave chased after her, large unwieldy hands trying to grab at the tiny android, but she jumped up onto its arms and kicked it in the face. As it staggered back in pain, Gina turned Athena and fired her pulse cannon at its back, blasting a hole straight through it and into the obelisk. There was a large explosion and as the smoke cleared, there was a large hole blasted into the wall.

"There's our way in." Darren noted. He looked around at the thousands of crumbling bodies that were their enemies and felt a wave of satisfaction flow over himself. "That felt…fun. Even when I fought against the Mini-Cons I never felt a rush like that."

"Welcome to my world, bro. It feels good being a badass for once, doesn't it?" Annie smiled.

"I think I need to take five. That was intense." Gina said, tired but smiling.

"There is no time to rest. Reinforcements will be here soon, as are the Decepticons and the Autobots. Be prepared to fight again." Sara said. She looked at Centurion. "Come, we will go inside and deactivate the pyramid."

Sara didn't wait for a reply as she ran into the obelisk with Centurion in tow. The kids were left standing outside with their Talos.

"So," Annie said. "What do we do now?"

"We wait. Sara said she's got this, and we should trust her." Gina said.

"Yeah, because the mysterious android who calls you "Ms. Gina" is totally swell." Annie replied sarcastically.

"Annie, knock it off." Darren said and sighed. The adrenaline was dying down now, and the exhaustion was setting in. "Let's just stand watch for any baddies coming our way, okay?"

"Well, well, what do we have here?" A menacing voice cackled. "Three new players in our little war game. How quaint."

The kids spun around and saw Megatron standing just a few feet from them with his entire Decepticon team behind them, their weapons trained on the trio. The kids quickly got their units into combat mode and also raised their weapons, though they were at a severe disadvantage. They didn't stand a chance against Megatron alone, lest of all the entire Nemesis team. This was not good.

"Shit." Annie muttered.

"Looks like the three humans got an upgrade of their own." Starscream grinned. "Not that it will do them any good." Starscream raised his null ray. "Stand down humans. We're not here for you, only the obelisk. If you surrender now, we can assure you remain unhurt."

"Hell no!" Darren growled. Megatron's expression darkened.

"I don't think you understand the situation you're in right now." Megatron said. He raised his arms towards his group. "We outnumber you ten to one. You fancy little toys are no match for us. Not even an army of Talos can stand against one of our kind, and yet here you are trying to make one last futile stand." He pointed his fusion cannon at the Prometheus. "I won't tell you again. Stand down, or die."

Darren raised his beam rifle and pointed it at Megatron's head. The warlord grinned and barked a raspy laugh that made Darren shiver.

"Are you really going to shoot me, boy? Here, right now?" He asked. He lowered his cannon and beat his fist against is chest. "Go ahead, be my guest. But you better make sure that you hit me, because you won't get a second shot off."

For a moment, no one said a thing. Annie and Gina could not see Darren's expression, nor did they know how to operate their unit's comm systems to speak or see each other. Darren was silent and the Prometheus was frozen still in its position. Then, just as Gina was about to call her friend's name, Darren spoke up.

"Who said I was aiming for you?"

He moved Prometheus' arm and fired a shot from his beam rifle. None of the Cons could do a thing as the beam shot over Megatron's shoulder, the beam particles searing his armor, before it hit Lugnut in the middle of his chest. Megatron slowly turned around to look at one of his most loyal soldiers, Nightshade stared at the hole burned into Lugnut's chest, the spot where the beam had entered, burning through layers of thick armor and piercing his spark chamber directly.

"L-lord Megatron…?" Lugnut rasped before his chest exploded in a shower of sparks and metal. He fell to his knees, with Search popping off his arm and looked at the sight in shock. Lugnut's head fell forward and his red mono-eye went dark and his body fell limp.

Lugnut was dead on the spot, with a large, gaping hole in his torso.

Gina and Annie both stared at Darren in shock, but they could not see how steely Darren's expression had been. If he did die today, be it because of this damn island, or by Decepticons, he was not going down without taking one of them with him. But even with all his courage, it didn't stop him from jumping in surprise as Megatron let out a truly deafening bellow of pure rage.

"KKRRRRAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

Megatron's eyes bored holes into Darren's soul as he raised his fusion cannon to shoot the Talos, and its young pilot into oblivion. Darren, Gina and Annie all prepared to move, but they would still be too slow to avoid the attacks of the other Cons. Then, just as the barrel of Megatron's fusion cannon began to glow, he was hit in the head and chest by two energy bolts that knocked him off his feet. The other Cons were also driven off by the sudden assault.

"Don't even think about it Megatron!"

It was like déjà vu. The kids turned to see Optimus Prime and the rest of the Autobots standing between them and the Decepticons. Arcee, Bulkhead and Bumblebee took their positions beside their friends, keeping an eye on the Cons, but also sneaking glances at the new Talos they were piloting.

"So," Bulkhead said. "You gonna tell us where you got the new digs?"

"You wouldn't believe us if we told you." Darren said, his voice shaky. Arcee noted this, even behind the Talos' speakers, but she stayed focus on the scene going on before them.

Optimus, Jazz, Ironhide and Prowl stood side by side as they faced the Cons. Prowl noticed Lugnut's still upright corpse sitting beside the fallen Megatron. He looked at Optimus, but all Prime did was give him a shake of the head. This wasn't the time to talk about it.

"Don't you dare, Prime!" Megatron snarled. Starscream and Barricade tried to help him up but he pushed them away. "Don't you dare get in my way this time! I was lenient on those humans before but no more! THEY DIE TODAY!"

"Then you will have to get past all of us Megatron." Optimus said as he pointed his cannon at Megatron's head.

"That won't be an issue." Nightshade growled, pulling back Gandiva's string.

The death of Lugnut seemed to have spurred the Decepticons to keep fighting despite their previous exhaustion. A human just killed one of their own. This wasn't just business anymore, it was personal. They were out for blood. Similarly, the Autobots were not going to let the Cons have their friends, and were willing to fight to death if it meant keeping them safe. No Autobot, human or Minicon was going to die today. Both sides readied their weapons and prepared to unleash everything they got. The kids also prepared for the storm that was about to erupt and got ready for the fireworks to go off.

Then, just as the rage building between the two sides reached a critical point, and fingers began to pull triggers, there was a loud roar, and the ground began to tremble. Then the obelisk exploded and the world was bathed in purifying light.

XXXXXXXXX

 **5 minutes earlier**

The interior of the obelisk was nothing like Centurion thought it would be. It was not entirely solid on the inside and had a long, spiraling staircase that went all the way up to the pyramid. In fact, the obelisk felt much bigger on the inside than it looked outside. Centurion idly wondered how such a hollow structure could stand so strongly by itself. Perhaps it was because of its construction.

Sara gave him no time to ponder that question. She shifted her hands back into five fingered digits and looked up at the gestalt. "How high can you jump?"

"Uh, pretty high." Centurion answered, confused. "Why?"

"I will need you to get us up there quickly. We do not have much time before the fighting starts again."

Centurion nodded and he held his arms out. Sara jumped onto his left shoulder and he activated the jets in his feet to allow him to gain more height as he jumped at least three feet into the air. He grabbed onto the staircase and jumped again, this time gaining even more height. It was easy despite the added weight of the sword and Sara. It didn't take them long to reach the top of the staircase, and when they did reach the top, they were met with a large, golden door with a human-like face on the front.

"Centurion." Sara turned to the larger bot.

Centurion nodded and lifted the onmi-saber above him, shifting it into a reverse grip, then stabbed the blade into the door. The sword began to pulsate with energy that reverberated throughout the door before it exploded inwards. That was one of the onmi-saber's tricks, it could send out high frequency vibrations that could shatter almost anything it came into contact with-provided it had the time to charge up. This feature was cooked up with the knowledge that the Air Defense team would be forced to fight Bulks at some point in time, so methods were created to find ways to defeat the Minicons' larger counterparts without needing heavy artillery or ordnance. Why use bigger weapons when you could dish out equally devastating firepower with smaller tools if used properly? This key factor was taken into account when the gestalt program was innovated.

Centurion and Sara entered the doorway and were met with what could only be described as the pyramid's control room. It looked like the main engine of the Ark, with highly advanced components and machinery that layered the interior of the golden pyramid that caused the bots down below so much trouble. At the center of the chamber was a large crystal, a prism that sat in the middle of four other red crystals that emitted enough heat to make the room feel like the inside of a volcano.

Sara did a quick optical scan of the crystals and saw that they held massive amounts of energy, probably to power the pyramid's beam. She deduced that the red crystals provided the heat for the beam, while the prism converted that heat into plasma and channeled it through the ruby-quartz lens that filled the iris of the eye on the outside, focusing the beam on a specific target. Seeing that there was no one here, she figured that the whole process was entirely autonomous, which made their jobs much easier.

"Destroy the instruments and shatter the lenses," Sara ordered. Her hands shifted back into weapon mode. "I will destroy the crystal."

Centurion didn't waste a second. He leapt forward and began hacking and slashing at anything that looked important, leaving sparkling and exploding consoles in his wake. He stabbed the omni-saber into one of the generators and jumped back as the machine exploded, causing a chain reaction that spread to the other machinery as well. Finally, he looked at the contraption that was holding one of the red crystals aloft. Pointing the sword at it, he let go of the hilt and the omni-saber flew from his grip, shooting at the device and stabbing into it with ease. The machine exploded and the red crystal wobbled in the air before falling to the floor, shattering and exploding in a burst of flames that nearly engulfed Centurion had he not jumped away in time. The omni-saber returned to his hand, though it was a little blackened from the flames.

Sara stood in front of the crystal array and waited for the flames to die down before she began shooting at the main crystal in the center. Her laser blasts hit the crystal with enough force to start chipping off fragments with each hit, but the energy was still being collected into the prism. Seeing that she wasn't doing much damage, Sara adjusted the energy output on her blaster, and fired again, this time releasing a steady beam of photon energy. Her assault on the crystal soon began to charge it up, far past the capacity that it could manage, and bolts of energy began lancing from its reflective surface.

She didn't stop her assault until one of the bolts hit the spot right next to her, sending shards of metal over her body. Centurion had to grab her around the waist to pull her away as the crystals began to go critical and were set to explode. Centurion hefted both android and sword onto his shoulders and sprinted for the nearest opening he could find-not the door, but the glass lens behind the eye. He lunged forward and smashed headfirst through the lens and fell to the ground 3 feet below him. Back inside, the crystals reach critical mass and one after the other, they exploded in a brilliant flash of light.

The explosion could be seen from the ground as Autobots and Decepticons looked up to see the pyramid explode in a plume of flames so large and hot that the area actually went dark for a moment and the heat could be felt at ground level. Then some kind of chain reaction happened, and the explosions trailed down the obelisk, forcing the warring sides to break ranks and retreat as the entire structure went up in flames. The obelisk was obliterated and the entire tower became a large pillar of fire that let out a fearsome roar as it reached high into the sky.

"Wow," Jazz whistled. "That's one for the scrapbook."

Annie opened her cockpit hatch and leaned out to get a picture of the explosion with her phone before hopping back into her Talos. That was too good to pass up.

But Megatron was less than pleased with the way things were turning out. Losing one of his soldiers to a human child was bad enough, but losing quiet possibly the one thing that could have let him win the war had sent him over the edge. With a primal roar "PRIME!" Megatron ran forward and slammed into Optimus, sending them both falling over the edge of a hill and rolling down the slope, punching and grappling with each other. When they reached the bottom, Optimus kicked Megatron off him and raised his battle blade.

"Don't get mad at me because the universe saw fit to give you your due punishment, Megatron." Optimus said. "You had this coming."

"Don't act all high and mighty Prime." Megatron sneered. "Sooner or later those humans will turn their backs on you and shoot you down just like they tried to do me. You call me a fool, but at least I know who my enemies are!"

"That's swell, considering how many times Starscream has blatantly insulted and schemed against you." Optimus replied. "I wonder how long it will be before your slaves realize that you've given Starscream more chances than any other Decepticon in history?"

"Silence!" Megatron raised his fusion cannon at Prime. "You die here, Prime! And this war ends today!"

" **Yes,"** A booming voice bellowed. " **It will end today! But with the deaths of all of you!"**

"Who said that?" Megatron asked, looking around. "Answer me! I demand to know who dares to interrupt my fight!"

" **You are in no position to be making demands of me, mortal."** The entity growled. Everyone could literally feel the malice leaking from its voice. **"I am a god. I provided a paradise for the wayward souls who strayed into my land-my Eden. And yet your first inclination is to wage war on my sacred grounds. I expected nothing less from the savage beings who killed the Muses and Samyaza's ilk."**

"Samyaza," Optimus said. "Do you mean Odin, Loki and Thor?"

" **The very ones who had given themselves into insanity out of despair. The ones your slaves killed, Optimus Prime."**

"Who the hell is he calling slaves?" Ironhide grumbled.

"If you want to argue with the disembodied voice, be my guest. I'm not getting into this." Bulkhead said.

"So you are the one who commands the Muses." Megatron said and smirked. He knew there were more of those monsters lurking about on this rock. "I've been waiting to meet you face to face. I wanted to thank you for all the trouble your little songbirds gave my lieutenants and I."

" **Oh I'm sure you will. But that will never happen, for you all need to repent for the sins you have caused on my world."**

"Whatever we did to offend you, it wasn't by choice. And neither was our arrival on this world." Optimus said, making sure that Megatron didn't say anything to enrage the owner of the mysterious voice. "We meant no harm to this world or its populace. But the question still stands-who are you?"

There was no reply. The voice did not answer, and silence filled the area, which was a great reprieve for the Autobots and Decepticons. Then Optimus doubled over as the Matrix in his chest began to fill his body with a searing pain that felt as if he was being incinerated from the inside out. Before Megatron could ask what was going on, the ground began to tremble, and a pillar of fire erupted from the spot the obelisk was just in.

The flames burned with such intensity that the Autobots and Decepticons were forced to back away from the towering inferno. Centurion himself was barely able to get away in time with the omni-saber and Sara in tow. Optimus and Megatron stared up at the flames in shock and awe as they began to twist in on itself like a tornado. Then they saw a massive form appear within the flames itself. There was a mighty roar and the flames were blasted from existence like they were nothing more than smoke-and that was when the bots saw their "host".

It was a large, two headed dragon, but not one that was ever seen by human eyes. This beast was almost as large as an omega sentinel back on Cybertron, with skin as smooth as stone and a large round body that had two muscular legs and two long necks that extended into a pair of gold dragon heads. The heads had no eyes, just small jewels where the eyes would be-the left head had eyes of sapphire and the right head had eyes of rubies. On its rotund torso was a human face made of stone, a face that sat upside-down on its chest. Large wings kept it up in the air and had no trouble keeping the dragon aloft as its face glared down at the bots and humans.

" **I am Fortitudo,"** The entity spoke, its face speaking in an ancient language that was automatically translated for the bots and humans. **"Cardinal Virtue of Fortitude and lord sovereign of the western lands."** It landed on the ground, making it shake, and stalked towards its prey with growing rage mounting in its voice. **"Your kind feared the darkness, so we gave you light. You begged us for blood, and we gave you war. I gave you a paradise, and you squandered it worshipping false gods. Now you spurn my council? You will learn your place!"**

Fortitude opened his two dragon heads and they both released twin streams of fire and ice. The Autobots and Decepticons scattered as the land was turned into a blazing inferno and a frozen wasteland in equal measure. The once beautiful plains and fields were destroyed, razed and uprooted for miles in a single strike. Optimus and Megatron both drew their weapons and ordered their teams to fire upon the Cardinal.

"Autobots attack!"

"Decepticons, destroy that beast!"

Both sides opened fire on Fortitudo, unleashing a crippling barrage of lasers, missiles, and photon charges on their shared enemy. Past grudges could wait, this was a matter of survival. But as expected, their attacks did little to damage the creature, only make him angrier. Fortitude roared and its sapphire head fired another shot stream of ice that hit the ground and caused an avalanche of towering spikes to erupt from the ground. Both Autobots and Decepticons were quick to avoid getting impaled, with the flyers taking to the air and flying towards the beast.

"We need to hit it with everything we've got!" Jetfire said. "But don't get to close or it'll pick you out of the sky before you can blink!"

"I don't take orders from you!" Starscream hissed, but he followed the warning nonetheless.

The jets flew in close and released their cruise missiles simultaneously, while Jetfire fired his twin particle cannons at Fortitudo's face. The projectiles hit the Cardinal dead center, and while he gave a cry of pain, it didn't even stagger him. He raised his ruby head and shot a fire that came at the Seekers at such speed that they were almost unable to dodge properly. Jetfire continued to fly circles around Fortidudo shooting his particle cannons, but on his own the most he was able to do was blast off some pieces of his stone skin.

" **Pathetic!"** Fortitudo sneered. With surprising quickness, he swung his body around and smacked Jetfire out of the air with his tail.

Jetfire went falling towards the ground and crashed into a hill, knocked offline immediately. Nightshade flew around the two dragon heads, avoiding their snapping jaws and firing arrows from Gandiva. She was satisfied to see that they were actually doing damage to him, but it seemed that Fortitudo was smart enough not to be a sitting target for her. He kept snapping his jaws at her, shooting jets of fire and ice, not giving her even a second to breath lest she get incinerated and frozen solid in equal measure. Optimus noticed this and formulated a plan.

"Megatron," He said. "I know you don't entertain the idea of working together but we must-"

"Spare me the monologue Prime, I know what to do." Megatron said, looking up at the creature. "You stay out of my way and let a real warrior do his job. There is no beast on this planet that can stand up to my might."

"Except for that dragon that beat you into the ground." Optimus noted, gaining a glare from Megatron. Optimus drew his ion cannon while Megatron increased the power output in his fusion cannon. "Would you like to do the honors?"

"With pleasure." Megatron raised his fusion cannon and charged it up. As soon as Nightshade was far enough from Fortitudo, he fired his cannon.

The plasma beam that he fired was much strong than what his usual blasts. This was because he changed the rate of fire from its average blasts into a continuous beam that was enhanced by Megatron's Powerlink with Leader-1. Fortitudo was facing forward when the beam hit him right in the spot where his two heads met the torso. The Cardinal grunted as he felt the pain and spun around to face Optimus and Megatron.

" **So the warlords finally decide to join the slaughter."** Fortitudo said, ignoring the lasers and missiles pelting his form as he stomped towards them. " **I've been waiting to see what makes you so special Optimus Prime. Why you carry such a great power within you-the power of our beloved Oracle."**

"The Oracle?" Optimus muttered, eyes wide.

" **But that curiosity can wait. After I kill you and the others, I shall bring your corpse to my brothers and we shall answer that question together."**

"Don't bother, Prime is mine to kill!" Megatron shouted and fired another shot at Fortitudo.

The beam hit Fotitudo, but he dodged it at the last second, letting it graze his side before replying, **"You make it seem like I am giving you a choice. Now be a good toy soldier and die for me!"**

Optimus and Megatron transformed and drove away as Fortitudo fired its dual fire/ice streams at them, ravaging the landscape once more in its pursuit of the two leaders. All the while the Autobots and Decepticons continued to fire everything they got at him.

XXXXXXXXX

"Bulkhead, put us down!" Annie yelled.

"Not this time, Annie." Bulkhead said.

The green Autobot dumped Darren and Annie's Talos at the foot of a hill far from the battle, while Arcee did the same with the Athena. A slightly burnt Centurion also followed them with the Omni-saber and Sara with him.

"Why can't we fight? We can help." Gina said.

"It's too dangerous." Arcee said. "You three just got into those machines and you aren't ready to heavy combat like this yet. Just hang back and don't get fried."

"Or frozen into a popscicle" Bulkhead said.

Annie glared at her friend through her monitor, and somehow, Bulkhead was able to sense the hostility that she was sending towards him and quickly made his way back to the battle. Arcee looked at the kids one last time before following after Bulkhead. Annie kicked her foot pedals and screamed.

"Even after we've got kick ass mechs, they still treat us like kids!" She yelled.

"Annie, we are kids." Darren said.

"Shut up, you know what I mean." Annie jumped as she saw another explosion in the distance. "They can't beat that thing. It's too strong."

"You're right, they can't beat it," Gina said. "But that doesn't mean that it's unbeatable. Just extremely strong and durable."

"Do you have any ideas?" Centurion asked.

"Maybe we need to fight this thing the smart way. Like how OZ can handle fighting the Bots and Cons. Not through brute strength but by using their brains in conjunction with what they know about their enemy. Namely where to hit." Gina explained.

"A weak point," Darren said. He thought of how OZ fought Cybertronians in the past, how they treated fighting the Autobots like fighting tanks-using heavy artillery and attacking weak points along their metal forms. "Okay I see what you mean, but how do you fight a two headed dragon thing that shoots fire and ice at anything that moves?"

"By hitting a single point with enough firepower to do damage." Sara said. "I may have found a target that can cripple Fortitudo, Ms. Gina."

Gina saw Sara upload a picture to the Athena's monitor. It showed the spot where the sapphire head was hit by Megatron's fusion cannon. The stone around the spot where its neck met its torso was burned and sizzling, with a large, deep gash that looked painful.

"Whoa, hold up," Annie said. "You want us to shoot at that one spot, which doesn't even look bigger than a foot? That's impossible!"

"Not with your mech's targeting systems." Sara replied. "The only concern is getting in close enough to get the shot in. though that won't be a worry for you three."

"What do you mean?" Darren asked.

"The Sol particles that the Apollo Drives generate are capable of repelling matter in large quantities. Switch your Talos to flight mode and the computer will do the rest with my guidance." Sara instructed. "But the only one who can do this is Ms. Gina."

"Me? What could I do?" Gina asked. She didn't sign up for this! Fighting Deccepticons and fighting giant kaiju monsters was something totally different.

"Your Athena is equipped with a beam cannon that takes it power directly from the Athena's solar reactor. It is the only thing powerful enough to blast into the creature's hard skin aside from Megatron's fusion cannon and Nightshade's bow. With both occupied, it is up to you do the deed." Sara said. As Gina pondered the implications of what that meant for her, the android looked at the Prometheus. "In order to give Ms. Gina a chance to fire the shot, we will require a distraction. That is where you two come in, Darren and Annie."

XXXXXXXX

Optimus and Megatron drove through the grassy plains at full speed with Fortitudo right behind them. It fired large fireballs that blasted holes in the ground deep enough for them to fall in and large ice balls that could crush them if they got a direct hit in. Megatron continued to fire his cannon back at the beast, but his accuracy was way off due to constantly dodging and weaving. Nightshade flew behind Fortitudo with the Seekers attacking the heads and face without rest. But they were beginning to tire.

"Starscream, I can't keep this up much longer!" Skywarp said. "I'm about to run out of ammo!"

"Then use your proton cannons, you fool! Our survival is at stake here!" Starscream yelled back.

"Would you both just shut up and shoot!" Nightshade yelled at them.

Fortitude, finally having enough of the pests that were swarming over him, spun his ruby head around and shot a fireball at them. The Cons dodged the blast and Nightshade shot an arrow at the dragon head, hitting it in the jaw dead center. Fortitude groaned in pain as he felt the ethereal weapon actually hurt his supposedly invulnerable stone hide, and his statuesque face glared at Nightshade.

Down below, Optimus and Megatron took the chance to shoot at Fortitudo, not at his body, but at his feet. Though just as diamond hard as the rest of his body, his legs weren't that durable enough to withstand a combined onslaught of ion blasts and plasma beams weathering away at his short legs. Fortitudo growled and swerved his sapphire head around to shoot more ice at the two leaders, but Nightshade circled around to his head to fire Gandiva at his face. The arrow she released gave a deafening boom as she let it loose and watched with grim satisfaction as Fortitudo stumbled back in pain.

" **Enough of this!"** Fortitudo bellowed and opened his mouth wide. Spinning his body around, he fired a large ball of energy from his body at Optimus and Megatron, who made to run from the attack.

"Jump!" Optimus yelled.

Both he and Megatron jumped into the crevice just as the energy ball hit the ground and detonated in a large explosion that made the entire island tremble. Autobots and Decepticons alike watched in awe and some in fear as Fortitudo weathered through everything they had thrown at him. They were tired, exhausted and the reality of the situation was catching up to them. They were not winning this battle.

"That thing takes our attacks like they were nothing." Bumblebee said. "How can we beat something like that?"

"We hit them harder kid, that's all." Ironhide said. Barricade scoffed.

"Like that's done us any good you old scrapheap." Barricade sneered. Ironhide grabbed him and pulled him in close.

"You wanna say that to my face?" He growled.

"Stop it!" Arcee pushed them apart. "This isn't the time to be doing this! We need another plan that doesn't involve wasting ammo on that thing's skin."

"If you have any ideas, we're open for suggestions, sis." Flamewar growled. Arcee was about to tell her sister to shut up when Wheeljack pointed something out.

"What's that?" He asked, pointing at the sky.

Arcee looked up to where Wheeljack was pointing. She saw three trails of green light shooting through the air at speeds that almost matched Jetfire's. Arcee magnified her optical vision and saw that the three points of light were in fact three Talos-the Omega Talos.

"What the hell are they doing?" Prowl asked. Since when were Talos able to fly. Those machines did not look aerodynamic at all. "Don't tell me that they actually plan on fighting that thing by themselves."

"Knowing those brats, they probably have a plan in mind." Ironhide said mildly. He looked at his fellow Autobots. "Let's give them a hand and see what they're up to."

Prowl and Arcee glanced at each other, but nodded all the same. For once, they'll have to put their faith in the kids once more.

XXXXXXXXXX

Darren gritted his teeth as the cockpit shook from the winds pushing against Prometheus. He couldn't believe that he was piloting a flying Talos. By rights, such a thing shouldn't even be possible considering that the Talos were not made to fly at high speeds or altitudes. In truth, Sara defined it as hovering, and using the mech's backpack thrusters to move through the air. She said that high quantities of Sol particles were strong enough to not only repel gravity, but also lift the Talos into the air. It was a bit sketchy, as humanoid machines like Talos were not suited for aerial maneuvers, but as long as he didn't try to do any fancy moves, he should be fine.

He clutched his joysticks tightly as he and Annie came up on the Cardinal beast-Fortitudo. He was still unleashing his firepower on the Autobots and Decepticons below him, and ignoring the flyers that were zipping around his head like flies. Darren could see the area where Megatron's fusion beam had left a deep scar under the ice dragon's neck, but with how fast the beast was moving, he had to wonder how Gina was going to get the shot in.

"Don't worry about it Darren." Annie said through their suit's radio frequency. She sounded confident but Darren could hear the nervousness in her voice. "Just stick to the plan and everything will be alright."

"Easy for you to say. You're not playing decoy." Darren replied.

"Hey, we're all gonna get bragging rights for saving the Autobots here. That's what really matters, right?"

"Yeah," Darren rolled his eyes. "That's what matters."

"Good. Now eyes up front, Puff the Magic Dragon is giving us the stink eye."

Darren looked forward and felt his anxiety returning again as the two headed dragon faced the twins. Here, the twins split up, Annie flew straight towards Optimus while he was supposed to act as the decoy. Seeing how intently Fortitudo was following his movements, Darren figured that he was doing his part of the plan right. Taking a deep breath, he raised his Talos' arms and channeled his telekinetic energy through them into the outside world.

Sara didn't go into specifics, but she said that Prometheus was made specifically with Darren's powers in mind. The cockpit was designed to channel his telekinesis through receptors layering the interior of the cockpit and the Talos' frame and could be channeled externally, allowing Darren to control things from his spot inside the Prometheus-only his powers were enhanced.

Fortitude was so focused on tracking the esper inside the machine, he didn't notice that large stones that were pulled from the ground by a strong invisible force and thrown at him until they began to pelt his face. It didn't hurt, only caused mild discomfort, but for some reason, it looked like he was confused.

" **Why do you fight me, child of man?"** Fortitudo asked. **"Why fight a being who has nurtured you kind since antiquity?"**

"Because you're trying to kill my friends," Darren replied. "Why do you think I'm doing this?"

" **So they have corrupted your mind as well. Pity, you are indeed strong, young one. But,"** Fortitudo turned his body around to fully face Prometheus. **"I am stronger!"**

Fortitude began to release a deafening scream that sounded like drums pounding in Darren's head. His arms froze in place, forcing Prometheus to stop its onslaught. It felt like every cell in his body was frozen over, and he began to panic as he felt his body stiffen in place. Fortitudo flapped his wings and went up towards the Prometheus, still unleashing his heavenly bellow. As he got closer, he opened his mouth wide and was about to swallow the Talos, pilot and all, entirely.

" **I will cleanse you of the taint they have place upon you, boy. And within me, you shall know who you have to thank for your gifts."**

"I'm not thanking some monster who thinks that he's still relevant in the world." Darren said, gritting his teeth. He forced his body to move, jerking his right joystick forward to move Prometheus' right arm. "We've done fine without you lording over us, and we'll still go one without you!"

The Prometheus raised its arm and fired its beam rifle, shooting the beam into Fortitudo's gaping maw. The blast exploded against the beast's insides, causing Fortitudo to recoil in pain. He fell back to the ground, smoke rising from his mouth. The twin dragon heads shot towards Darren, but he pulled his joysticks back and made his suit circle around the golden dragon heads that snapped at him. He fired his rifle again and this time he shot off a piece of the ruby dragon's horns.

"Gina shoot!" Darren shouted.

From some unseen location, a large green beam came shooting through the air, and hit Fortitudo's sapphire head-the dragon roared, but it's cry was cut off as the entire length of its neck was blasted off the main body. The beam cannon's attack had tore into the wound Megatron had left earlier, burning through the thick diamond hard skin and blasting the head and neck off in one shot. The severed head spun in the air before crashing to the ground with a loud boom, leaving a deep crevice in the earth where it fell. Gina saw the explosion and cheered.

"Yes! Right on the first try!" Gina smiled. She couldn't help but feel pumped. This was like being in a real life anime! If only the Omega Talos could combine, then she could reenact Vaultron!

" **Ngh!"** Fortitudo grunted and let out an enraged growl and had his ruby dragon head charge up another flame attack. **"Blasphemers! I give you a paradise, a life to live under the rule of the true gods. And this is how you repay me? Burn forever in eternal hellfire!"**

"That's not going to happen!"

Enyo appeared above the dragon's head, with Optimus hanging onto its arm. Annie let go of Prime and he fell towards the dragon's head. He cocked his fist back and punched the golden crest on the dragon with enough force to push its head down and deflect the flames to the ground away from Darren and Gina. Optimus slid down its neck and jumped onto the main body, shooting is ion cannon at the base of the neck. Fortitudo thrashed his body around, trying to shake Optimus off him, but then he took a few missiles to the face from Annie's Talos.

"How do you like us now?" She taunted. "Not so strong now that we're-oh shit!"

The dragon head slammed into Enyo and sent the Talos shooting through the air towards the ground in an out of control death spiral. Annie was cursing as she tried to get her machine upright, but the speed at which she was falling was too strong for her to even move. As she saw the ground fast approaching, Annie tightened her seat belt and braced for the hard impact.

Except it never came. She had her eyes closed for a moment before cracking them open and seeing that the Enyo was hovering inches from the ground. Darren's face appeared on the rear monitor as Prometheus lowered itself towards her.

"I got your back sis." Darren smiled. Annie let out a shaky laugh.

"Thanks bro." Annie looked at the battle going on. She saw Optimus hacking away at the second dragon's neck with unrestrained ferocity. "Should we help him?"

"I think Optimus has this one covered." Darren said. "He has back-up."

Megatron scowled as he stood on the back of Nightshade's beast mode, using her as a platform to fly up to Fortitudo's face. The Cardinal was thrashing his body around, yelling and growling savagely as he tried to dislodge the Prime hacking away at his last remaining dragon head without the least bit of restraint for his own safety. Seeing Optimus use every ounce of his immense strength to do the job, Megatron had to commend the Prime for the battle lust he was showing.

" **No! I will not be beaten by invaders!"** Fortitudo shouted. His deep voice could be heard for miles and at this point in the battle, all those present were getting a headache every time he spoke. **"I am a god! This is my world!"**

"This world belongs to no being, man or god!" Optimus grunted as he stabbed his battle blade into the beast's crystalline flesh. Then he pulled his blade through the stone as hard as he could, trying to sever the vital connections that kept the neck tethered to the body. "It belongs to all creatures born here! You're just as much of an invader as myself or Megatron!"

" **Silence! I will not be culled by a machine who thinks he has a soul!"** Fortitudo fired more destructive energy blasts from his mouth without even looking at where he was shooting. **"Everything I did, it was for the will of my creator!"**

"Oh please," Megatron snorted as Nightshade positioned him in front of Fortitudo's face. He raised is fusion cannon. "At least die with some dignity."

Optimus let out a loud roar as he pulled his sword free in a mighty slash that also severed the granite hard tendons that kept the dragon head in place, sending the head falling to the earth. At the same time, Megatron fired his super-powered fusion cannon at the center of Fortitudo's face-or rather his chin-and the beam gored a hole deep into the Cardinal's flesh. The resulting explosion did even more damage to the entity's internal structure and Fortitudo felt his body begin to fail him.

" **No…this cannont be…"** He lamented as his body descended to the ground. " **My paradise…ruined…this is a disgrace that I will not accept!"**

"It doesn't matter if you accept it or not," Megatron said as he aimed for another shot. "Just shut up and die already."

He fired another shot and this one hot the center of Fortitudo's forehead. The Cardinal, beaten and broken, crashed to the ground in a magnificent display of flames and red powdered dust the flew from his body where the heads used to be. Optimus jumped off and Darren was able to catch as he flew by, lowering the Prime to the ground. Nightshade flew towards the ground and let Megatron jump off her before transforming herself. The other Autobots and Decepticons gathered around their leaders and watched the gigantic being that had nearly destroyed them all succumb to his death throes.

" **Hehe,"** The dying Cardinal laughed sotfly, though it still made the ground rumble. " **So in the, it is I who meets death today. No matter, my sacrifice will be a boon to the great creator, and enrich this sinful world with her radiance. Even in death, I win."**

"Who is this creator?" Optimus asked. There were still so many questions that he needed answered. "What are you?"

" **You have no idea of the events that you have triggered today, Optimus Prime. You may have killed me, but more will come, and they will descend upon you with the might of the entire Host itself."** Fortitudo said. **"You-who holds the power of the Oracle, our beloved Oracle-you will die, maybe not today but eventually death will come-for all of you. For we have found you at last, beloved Oracle-and we will reclaim what these machines have taken from us."**

Even as Fortitudo's body began to crumble, he still gave them one last condescending laugh. **"May the creator Jubileus grace you…"** His voice died out as his body crumbled to dust and was blown away by the wind. Soon there was nothing left of the beast that ravaged the land except for a single red orb that fell to the ground.

The Autobots and Decepticons stood around silently, trying to process what just happened, while the kids took the moment to recover from the most intense battle they were apart of-were actually a apart of-that nearly wiped them all out. Optimus looked at Megatron, both leaders covered in dirt, blackened armor and various dents and cuts from the near misses they and just minutes before. Then Optimus heard Ratchet's voice ring into his comm-link.

"Ratchet?"

" _Optimus? Thank the Allspark I was able to reach you."_ Ratchet sounded stressed, and with good reason to. " _What's going on over there? I just picked up a large energy signature over the computer. Are you alright?"_

"We're all fine, Ratchet. Just exhausted," Optimus looked at Megatron. "Unless someone would like to continue this pointless battle."

Megatron gave Optimus a weak glare. "No, Prime. We will continue this next time." He turned to Darren. "And you, boy. The next time I see you, I will make sure to give you a painful death. Make no mistake of that!"

Anything else that could be said was cut short when the entire island began to shake.

"For god's sake, what now?" Bulkhead groaned.

Optimus immediately knew what was going on. "The island is falling! Without Fortitudo's influence, the island cannot keep itself in the air."

"We're going to crash?!" Starscream yelled.

"There's no need to be frightened you coward!" Megatron sneered. "We each have our own methods of escape." Megatron sent a signal back to the Nemesis and Soundwave sent a ground bridge for them. "Until next time, Prime."

Optimus watched as the Decepticons entered their ground bridge. Blackout was the last to leave, as he was carrying the body of Lugnut, which had miraculously avoided getting destroyed in the chaotic battle. Once they were gone, Prowl called Ratchet up for a ground bridge and their way home appeared before them.

"Autobots," Optimus said, feeling the exhaustion catch up to him. "Let's go home!"

The Autobots wasted no time in leaving through the portal though Optimus was the last to leave. But before he stepped through the bridge, he ran over and picked up the red orb left behind by Fortitudo before running back to the ground bridge. It was probably the only thing that could answer what the Cardinal was, and he wasn't going to let it get destroyed.

The island, known as Brigadoon, fell from the sky as if struck down by Gaia herself. Its descent was slow, as the ethereal forces the held it aloft for so long took its time to fade, unaided by the immense powers of Fortitudo. It crashed against a mountain hard enough to send cracks rippling through the island. The impact of such a large structure hitting the ground at the speeds it was falling at was tremendous, and the very earth trembled as the island finally crashed into the foot of a mountain, breaking apart like a colossal puzzle set and raining dirt, stone and-unbeknownst to the Autobots and Decepticons-crystal shards that were hidden within the depths of the island, fueled by Fortitudo's power and used to provide lift and propulsion for the island as it flew across the frozen tundra.

When the chaos had ended, there was nothing left of the island-or its master. But though Brigadoon was destroyed, the crystals that fueled its power still survived, and they sank into the earth, beneath the ice, where they were absorbed by another force that was buried deep within the planet itself.

The Autobots and Decepticons won this battle by the mesh of their teeth. But it wasn't over. This was the beginning of something bigger.

XXXXXXX

Megatron, Nightshade, Soundwave and the rest of the Decepticons stood around Lugnut's body. It was still warm, even though the Spark had long since extinguished, but the body was starting to cool. The hole where the beam hit him had also cooled down, leaving a warped and twisted hole that stayed melted through his torso and Spark chamber. After they had returned to the Nemesis, Megatron had Lugnut's body placed on a platform that sat over an ion fountain that emitted energies so intense that direct contact could vaporize a mechanoid's body after long periods of contact. It was lethal for anyone else, but it was perfect for cremating a body.

"Lugnut was a dedicated warrior and a true Decepticon who was loyal not only to me, but to the cause we all share. Even after suffering the shame of being experimented on by humans, he still held true to his goals and didn't stray from the path that he had taken, unlike some among us," Megatron glared at Starscream. "But what happened today, was insulting. A human, an organic creature weaker and smaller than us, had killed one of our own in full view of us all. And that is something that we cannot let pass."

The Decepticons all muttered and grunted in agreement, but Nightshade stayed silent.

"But let me be clear on one thing," Megatron continued. "Until I say so, there will be no retaliation against the humans for the time being." That didn't sit well with the Cons, but their protests were silence by Megatron's glare. "This is not the time to be going on a revenge quest for one child. We are fighting a war here, in case you idiots forgot."

"But we aren't going to let that boy get away, are we?" Nightshade hissed. She showed a rare form of anger-a calm anger that surpassed the savage rage that most would show. "This is a matter of Decepticon pride."

"Rest assured, Nightshade, the boy will not live to enjoy his victory. He will die, but on our terms and by our hand." Megatron nodded to Soundwave, who got to work on activating the platform. "You can be sure about that."

Nightshade said nothing as she watched the ion charges engulf Lugnut's body and begin to eat away at his corpse. It was a warrior's funeral, cremating the body so that he would have an easier travel to the afterlife. Megatron stood beside her, and relished in her rage. Lugnut was a rare breed of Decepticon, one that was absolutely loyal to him without question or hidden agendas. He meant what he said about making sure the boy paid for this insult.

No one killed a Decepticon and expected to escape retribution. Be they Autobot or human.

XXXXXXXX

Ratchet was hard at work repairing the damages the Autobots had suffered at Brigadoon. Thankfully, there were not severe injuries, but he wanted to be sure that everyone was at 100 percent within the hour. The Minicons were greeting the new addition to their number, the Air Defense Team, who were already in the process of giving Sparkplug a headache with their incessant chatter. Meanwhile Jazz and Wheeljack were checking out the Omega Talos that the kids brought back along with them.

"This is certainly a work of art." Wheeljack said as he studied the Prometheus. "Whoever made these suits was sure to make them as easy as possible for the kids to pilot them, yet they move ore fluidly than even OZ's suits. Truly outstanding."

"Careful, Jackie. You're drooling." Jazz grinned.

"Shut up, Jazz." Wheeljack looked down at Sara, who watched over the Talos like a guardian robot. "Are you sure that you don't want to tell us who made them? I promise I won't say a word."

"I am not obligated to feed your curiosity.

At the side, the kids were being scolded by their Autobot friends.

"I thought we told you three to stay put." Bulkhead said.

"Like we were going to sit on the sidelines and watch you guys get your asses beat by a giant two headed dragon." Annie rolled her eyes. "How have you not seen that coming already? We've known you guys for three months!"

"Seriously, Annie, what you did was dangerous. You could've been killed." Arcee said.

"But they did kinda save Optimus's life. That shot you took was perfect, Gina." Bumblebee praised.

"Thanks." Gina smiled.

"Praise is the last thing these children deserve, Bumblebee." Prowl walked up to them with a less than pleased expression. "You can't keep letting them off the hook whenever they do something on their own. Them running into the middle of a battle is the cause for all this."

"Fuck off, Prowl. We just saved your life!" Annie scowled. Prowl scowled right back.

"After you put the lives of your friends and the Minicons in jeopardy." He replied. "I don't know if you've forgotten this, but we're in the middle of a war. This isn't some scavenger hunt, or a videogame. The threat of dying is real, but you seem keen on putting Autobot, Minicon and human lives at risk to satiate your craving to violence and excitement. And what's more, now that your brother has killed a Decepticon, Megatron will be even more determined to come after you for retribution. Have any of you thought of that?"

Prowl's triad had made everyone go silent. Annie, who normally didn't take any crap from Prowl, couldn't deny that he was right. It was her fault that they were sent to the island in the first place. Not to mention nearly getting herself and her friends killed before the Autobots even arrived on Brigadoon.

"We're fighting a war here that could decide the fate of not just your world, but thousands of others," Prowl continued. "We don't have time to keep babysitting you every time something major happens. I said it once, and I'll say it again, you three are liabilities."

"That's enough Prowl." Optimus entered the room, fully healed from his time in the CR chamber. "That is no way to talk to members of our team."

"Members?" Darren echoed.

"These children may get into trouble too often than I would like, but they do not take these risks lightly. They know what they're getting into, and the dangers involved. The incident with D-Va was evidence enough of that." Optimus said. "And you three were a great help in the battle against Fortitudo. For that, and saving my life, I thank you."

The kids smiled, but Optimus held up a hand to stop them before they thought they were not in trouble.

"That being said, it would be nice for you three not to willingly run into danger anymore. You are my responsibility now, and I promised Melody to take care of you whenever you are in my care. You have made enemies of the Decepticons now, and they will be out for blood." He said. "Understood?"

"Yes Optimus." They said.

"Prime," Prowl glared at Optimus. "You can't just let this go again. Their recklessness almost got us all killed. Not to mention they brought in an unknown element into the Ark."

"Look, it's my fault, not there's." Annie said, gaining their attention. "Darren and Gina were just trying to drag me back before everything went to hell. If you want to punish anyone, it should be me."

Optimus looked down at the girl and got on one knee. "Annie, what you've been through is punishment enough. We're just glad that you're safe."

"I second that." Bulkhead smiled.

Annie smiled at them both and nodded. "Thanks a lot."

Gina looked at the three Talos standing in the corner. "Um, what about our Talos? Can we still keep them?"

Optimus shared a look with Prowl, who huffed and turned to walk down the corridor. Prime sighed and looked back at Gina. "Since Sara looks like she is about to attack anyone who gets too close to those machines, and considering they offer more protection than mere exosuits, I will allow you three to keep them-on the condition that they are only used on missions of my choosing. Use them in self defense, not as weapons of war."

"You got it, Prime!" Gina smiled. She ran over to Darren and pulled him over to their newly acquired machines.

Optimus watched the kids gather around the Talos and felt relief wash over him. Everyone was safe and sound with no serious injuries. And they even scored a minor, but significant, victory over the Decepticons-though Optimus would've preferred that Darren was not the one to kill Lugnut. Killing was something that stayed with a person for a lifetime, and it eventually comes back to haunt you in some shape or form.

But still, he had learned a great deal about their new enemy today. Terra was once ruled by entities from the stars who have appeared either before or after they crashed onto the planet. And they were powerful. Just what were these creatures, who were so sure of their power that they labeled themselves as gods? How much influence did they have on humanity's development over the centuries? And why were they so obsessed with capturing him alive? Did they sense the Matrix? Optimus had a feeling that it had something to do with this Oracle that they spoke of, and if that was the case, then Optimus knew that it definitely had something to do with the distant and mostly mysterious past of the Cybertronians.

These were pressing concerns, but at the moment, Optimus was content with just worrying about the present. There was still a war going on, and the Decepticons will not take the death of their own lying down. They may have won the battle, but the War for Terra still goes on-and the Autobots were ready for anything that had the unfortunate fate of trying to pick a fight with them.


	26. Circuit Breaker

Chapter 25-Circuit Breaker

Harold the night guard flinched as another lightning raced across the sky, followed by a deafening thunderclap that made him jump out of his pants. He whimpered pathetically as he walked down the long, empty hallways that made up the facility he was guarding on his night shift. Sure, acting as a security guard for a research facility of Future Industries, one of the largest tech companies in the country, was a good paying job, but this place was creepy at night. It was different from the loud, bustling little complex teeming with people from wall to wall in the day time. Without anyone to fill its halls, give it a sense of life, the building itself was almost dead.

Harold questioned why this place needed a security guard considering it employed some of the most advanced tech imaginable to monitor the building from top to bottom for intruders, ranging from motion sensors, infrared beams, typical security cameras employing a constantly changing encryption code to avoid getting hacked, and automated turrets mounted in front of the labs. It was a bit extreme, but considering there some espers that could easily bypass average security systems without ever tripping an alarm-and Karaba made a killing in that regard-no one could be too careful these days.

Speaking of intruders, he had gotten an alert in the security room about an intruder on the fourth floor, some thief who had tripped the pressure sensors in the floor but not the alarms somehow. Harold lamented walking through these dark halls, but he wasn't getting paid just to sit on his ass. He took the elevator to the fourth floor and shined his flashlight on down the hall. He had his gun out as he walked slowly along the floor, looking in to each room to see where the thief was. So far he had seen nothing, but he knew that the crook was creeping around here somewhere.

"Is that stupid thing on the fritz again?" He asked himself.

"No I'd say that it's working fine," A woman's voice said.

Harold spun around to see a young woman, clad in a metal suit that looked like it was made from thin metal strips that did little to hide her ample body, standing there. The strawberry blonde gave him and smirk and before he could raise his gun, he was sent flying back across the length of the hallway by a bolt of electricity that hit him in the chest. He hit the wall and crumpled to the ground, sporting a smoking hole in his chest and a heart that wasn't beating anymore.

"Can't say the same for you though." She grinned.

XXXXXXX

Sara was never one for reading. She only downloaded information directly into her cyberbrain and learned things instantly as though they had always been within her mind from the beginning. And her 'mother' had taught her about literature and its meaning to humans and aliens alike. She still didn't understand it, but her 'mother' had said that it wasn't something that you could understand by downloading it at the speed of thought, but something you could only truly get by reading the meaning of the eloquent words between the lines. Sara did that to, and she couldn't see anything between the lines other than what was written.

So she tried another approach, watching a play based on this literature she was told of. She sat on the side, watching her human-friends?-reenact a play based on a famous playwright while the Minicons watched from the sidelines with Annie and Kevin. From what Sara could tell, things were not going as planned.

"Tis maiden's heart is honest, my lord." Gina said passionately. "Tis not the answer to thy question?"

"The answer it is," Darren said. "I fear though whether 'tis thy truly love or lust."

"My lord?"

"A fair maiden are ye. Honest, warm and caring. Yet m'father a nobleman he is. Many tried to betrothed me for his wealth alone. Does the maiden swear, with all her heart, true love and nothing but love?" He continued.

"I...I…oh stop it, Darren. This is stupid." Gina huffed with a red face. Darren played his part very well, and it was starting to get to her. "This is embarrassing. How can people read this?"

"It's Shakespeare, Gina. It's a modern classic." Kevin said. "You'll find that it is a lot different from those astronomy essays you read at home."

"Well, I think it's unrealistic. Romeo and Juliet are hormonal teenagers with only one thing on their minds." The blonde said.

"When you turn 16, you'll be like that to. Give it some time." Annie grinned. She was already imagining Gina staking her claim on Darren, making sure other girls didn't start having any ideas on her brother. And she didn't even have to lift a finger!

"Is this what 20th century literature is like?" Sara asked.

"No, this is much older. But it's so famous that its withstood the test of time and people still read it even now." Kevin said. "It's what we humans call a classic."

"A classic." Sara repeated. Gina had told this once but that was a long time ago. "Are all classics just like this one?"

"Only those done by Shakespeare." Darren answered. "They're a bit hard to understand, and to act out. Took me an hour to memorize this line."

"And it takes months for others to memorize a single scene." Gina said.

"I don't think it's that bad." Grindor said. "It's kind of sad actually."

"And romantic. We don't get stuff like this back on Cybertron. Or we did, but it faded out of practice over time." Sureshock said. "I think the bots from Harmonex still did plays, though they were really hush hush about what they were doing to outsiders."

"Sounds a bit shifty." Kevin said.

"Those guys were always shifty. And snooty. And pompous." Grindor replied. "Not surprising considering Knockout was born there."

"Really?" Annie said. "No foolin'!"

There was a knock on the door and it slid open to reveal Jazz, who was giving them little people his trademark grin. "Hello there, friends, family…Road Storm."

"Get fragged."

"Hey Jazz, what's up?" Annie asked.

"Did you guys forget?" Jazz questioned. "It's time for your training session."

The kids all groaned at that. Since they had returned from Brigadoon with their specialized Talos, the kids were allowed by Optimus to keep the suits for themselves to use on missions-despite Prowl's reservations about letting the "humans" have weapons that could kill them. But only on the condition that they practice daily with them so they'll learn the controls better. They were still novices about Talos piloting, but the controls were simple enough that they lasted more than five minutes against Jazz during a training simulation-though that wasn't saying much. Jazz was a certified Cyber-ninja with years of experience under his belt.

As the kids went to get their pilot suits (specially made by Wheeljack), Ratchet and Optimus were having a conversation of their own about recent events that had them worried.

"Optimus, this is the fourth robbery this month. Someone's targeting these research facilities." Ratchet said. He brought up a list of the places that were robbed on the computer and pointed them out. "Each of them were hit hard, with many of their top secret tech developed for the military stolen, and everything else left behind."

"Decepticons?" Optimus inquired.

"Possibly. But these robberies were much too clean even for Nightshade for them to be a factor." The medic said. "And there's also the murder of any witnesses, but the latest incident provided some information that you might like. One of the guards reported seeing a woman shooting lightning killing the night guards at a Future Industries facility in Ozark."

"It could be an esper. There are five recorded espers with lightning powers like that."

"True, but the woman was also reported to be wearing some kind of suit that generated her powers."

"That's sounds too high tech for a human," Optimus' eyes narrowed. "Except for one group in mind."

"OZ." Ratchet sniffed. "It seems that they're putting their abuse of the proto-cube to good use."

"Indeed. Not to mention that the locations that were robbed were all companies that refused to aid OZ in their missions in the past." Prime said. Ratchet blinked at that tidbit.

"I didn't know that." He said. "Do you think it's some kind of revenge operation?"

"I doubt they would be so petty, but considering how mysterious OZ operates, there's only one way to really find out." Optimus stood up and went for the door. "Gather Arcee, Jazz and Wheeljack and tell them to meet me in the shuttle bay. Teletran, calculate the most likely target that OZ will hit next."

"Do you have something in mind?" Ratchet asked.

"In a sense. Keep an optic out for any changes and notify me immediately." Optimus said.

XXXXXXXX

Sumdac Industries was one the world's leading researchers in robotics technology. They were also an independent Talos development company, which was not surprising given that much of humanity's knowledge in robotics and AI development stemmed from ever advancing Talos research. The two subjects went hand in hand, and Sumdac Industries was one of the few groups out there that could make Talos that were agile but hardy enough to withstand a tank shell-though they were still doing some work in that area. It was theorized that SI would lead the way to the development of new third generation Talos that were superior to the second generation Talos that were used today. If only they knew that they were beaten to the punch by a clandestine terrorist organization.

Ironhide was leading a team consisting of Arcee, Jazz, and Wheeljack. The Autobots exited the ground bridge and were greeted by the grim sight of chaos everywhere. It was like the research facility was attacked by a joint squadron of tanks and Talos. The entrance had been blasted open, and to their horror, the guards who had the night shift lied on the ground, dead.

"They were electrocuted." Wheeljack said as he inspected the bodies. "They died from heart failure. Whoever did this shocked them to the point that burns sprouted on their bodies."

Ironhide scowled and raised his blasters-he couldn't bring his usual dual cannon system out of fear of collateral damage (Prowl's words, not his). "Split up and keep your eyes open. See if we can find any evidence as to what they stole."

It was a stretch considering that they had no idea what OZ-if it was them in the first place-had stolen. Fancy, high tech companies like these had a long list of things that OZ had on their shopping list, and there was no general pattern to their methods. The Autobots split up, each taking a corner of the large area. Jazz grappled onto the upper floors, using his size to maneuver through the building with ease despite being almost as large as the hallways.

After 15 minutes of searching the facility, Ironhide called in. " _You guys find anything yet_?"

" _Nothing on my end_." Wheeljack answered. " _Considering how messed up the front doors are, I thought that there would be more destruction, but it looks clean over here_."

" _Arcee_?"

Arcee crawled through a hole in the wall near the rear entrance and saw that the walls leading to the storage area were blasted open, with jagged gouges in the smooth floor and brownish-black scorch marks marring the walls. Much of the equipment in the storage area looked like they were hit by something hot, like fire-or electricity. And yet, it didn't seem like the usual stealth tactics that OZ typically employed when doing these kinds of operations.

"Nothing on my end either, but the storage area looks like it was hit by a lightning storm." She reported. "They're scorch marks everywhere and the equipment here looks like they were overcharged."

" _Wheeljack, head over to her position and check out the damage. See what you can find."_ Ironhide ordered.

" _On it."_

" _Jazz, what about you?"_

Jazz was still looking around the top floor near the roof, far from any of the areas that were hit. He wasn't looking for things that he could find with the naked eye-he was looking for something that was invisible. And his intuition didn't disappoint. Having switch his visor to infrared, Jazz had detected a trail of electromagnetic energy that permeated much of the facility, but led to the upper floors. Large amounts of it had been found both in and out of the building and he thought that it was just the lead he needed to see what had went down here.

" _Don't go radio silent on me Jazz, what did you find?"_

"I'm detecting a lot of electromagnetic energy all over the place. Ratchet was right on the money when he said that high amounts of electricity was involved." Jazz said. "I'm following it now."

Jazz hopped out the window and landed on the steel girders that supported a massive structure that was behind the facility. It was a large glass dome situated over a large field with trenches and bunkers-it looked like a warzone. Seeing that the EM trail was strongest here, Jazz used a small built-in laser to cut a hole through the glass and jump into the dome. He landed in a trench and frowned as he saw the muddy dirt cling to his polished leg armor.

"I'm getting a bath after this is over. You would think that they would air this place out a little." Jazz said and looked around. There was nothing here, but he did see what looked like pieces of burnt armor scattered along the ground. They were black, and hard to see in the dark, even with his advance night vision. "Now what went on here?"

His little investigation was cut short as the dome was suddenly illuminated and Jazz found himself facing a dozen M4 murphy mecha tanks-but they were different. These variations were the Army and Marine issue Talos-but they're armor was black and they were outfitted with more weapons that standard issue. As they all locked onto him, Jazz cursed and got ready to run.

"Of course this happens to me!" Jazz said.

The Talos opened fire, bombarding the Autobot with armor-piercing rounds and missiles. It didn't help that the Army and Marine M4s were always decked out with heavy weaponry designed to destroy or immobilize tanks and other Talos-Jazz barely classified as their entre. The Autobot performed a series of flips, ducking and dodging the numerous artillery that was sure to blast him to pieces if one of them were to land a shot on him.

"Guys, I'm need some help here!" Jazz called out. But he got no answer, only the unwanted sound of static. "Guys? Cee? Slag!"

There was too much outside interference, probably from the electromagnetic energy that coated the area. Jazz grunted as a shell hit him in the leg, and another caught him in the shoulder, sending bits of his armor flying. He staggered back a bit, but ran forward, doing a series of continuous flips to keep them from getting any more hits off. Jazz took out his laser nun-chucks and jumped forward, smashing the blunt weapons against the heads of the mechs. But even still they fired upon him despite being close enough to hit their own.

"Whoa!" Jazz ducked under a missile that destroyed a Talos behind him. "What the hell, dude? That was your own…"

He trailed off as he saw that there was no dead body in the burning wreckage. Not even smoldering remains. Jazz leapt forward and slammed is body into another Murphy, knocking it over and pulled the armor panels covering the cockpit away. To his surprise, this one was unmanned as well.

"Okay," Jazz said. He stood up and saw that the remaining M4s were starting to encircle him. "This is getting weird. Time to skidaddle!"

Jazz hopped on a Talos and used it as leverage to gain some height as he jumped up. He fired his grappling line and grinned as he saw it hook onto the side of the hole. Jazz pulled himself up to the top of the dome and-as a goodbye present-dropped a grenade down on the M4s that were gathered in one place beneath him, still shooting at him. He watched with satisfaction as the Talos went up in a ball of flames, scattering more pieces across the training area.

"And that's all she wrote." Jazz quipped and jumped off the dome onto the ground. "Now to get back to Hide and the oth-gah!"

Jazz was hit by a strong bolt of lightning that blasted his arm off and sent him sprawling to the ground. He groaned in pain as electricity lanced across his form and clutched the spot where his arm used to be, the severed limb sitting not too far from him. His whole bod felt like it was on the verge of being overloaded, but he still had enough coherency over his body to lift his head to face his attacker. But he wasn't expecting to see who it was.

"Hide," Jazz grunted, hoping that the others got the message. "It's not the Cons at all! It's-!"

He was hit by another bolt and sent flying into a statue, crashing through it and rolling to a stop. His body jerked and twitched before his optics went dark and he went limp. His assailant stood over him for a few seconds before leaving, electricity crackling off her form, with the Autobot's arm floating behind her in a magnetic field.

"Jazz, you alright?" Ironhide asked. He grew concerned as he heard no reply from the cyber-ninja. "Jazz, answer me you bastard!"

" _Ironhide, what's wrong?"_ Arcee asked.

"Jazz is in trouble. Head over to his position now!" Ironhide didn't wait as he ran towards the last known location Jazz called from. He hoped that nothing bad happened to the mech, because the last thing they needed was a death of their own.

XXXXXXX

Arcee waited anxiously alongside her fellow Autobots as they waited for Ratchet to finish his analysis of Jazz's inert body. The silver Autobot was held suspended in the preserving fluid of the CR chamber, where he was being repaired by the chamber's advanced nanobots that worked ceaselessly to fix the damage that was done to him. The kids stood close by to, looking just as worried as the Autobots.

"Is he going to be okay?" Annie asked.

"That remains to be seen, but he's not in any life threatening danger." Ratchet said. "But whoever did this to him had overloaded his circuits to the point of sending him into stasis lock. As for his arm, I can't do any work on it until he recovers a bit. Reconstruction surgery is a delicate process that is better done under less dire circumstances."

"Wait, what do you mean his circuits are overloaded?" Ironhide asked.

"Ironhide, Jazz was it by a weapon that specifically targeted his systems, like an EMP surge, but on a more lethal scale." Ratchet explained. "The weapon was probably designed for the sole purpose of disabling or destroying electronics."

"But Jazz said that it wasn't the Cons who did it. That meant he was referring to someone else." Gina said. "Who else could have tech strong enough to take out Jazz in a couple of minutes?"

"Only one group comes to mind," Prowl said, walking into the room with a grim expression. "And I think you all can guess who's behind this."

XXXXXXXXX

Josie Beller sat in her seat watching the technicians work on her suit with a smile. Down below her, technicians and scientists were hard at work on completing the upgrades to her suit and doing checks on its functions. Next to them was a platform that had Jazz's arm lying on it, and there were scientists poking and prodding the limb as well, trying to figure out the unique bio-mechanics of this limb. What they would learn from analyzing it would hopefully provide some insight to the mysterious creatures that resided on their world-and allow them to make proper countermeasures for their superiors to use in battle against them.

The strawberry blond woman was clad in a plain sleeveless shirt and cargo pants, sipping on some coffee as she sat in the observation room overlooking the research lab. Taking down that Autobot had lifted her spirits and she felt like she could take on the whole world-and she knew of OZ's plans went right, then she would probably get the chance. But she was ready for anything that came her way, human or alien, but she hoped that her superiors thought the same.

Aries and Aquarius stood at the window, assessing the report she had written up for them. From their expressions, they were pleased, and the Zodiacs were hard people to impress. After finishing the report, Aries turned to Beller and she stood at attention.

"At ease, Beller," Aries smiled. "You've done a spectacular job."

"Thank you sir, it wasn't that hard at all to be honest." Beller said, smiling. Hearing praise from the hard ass himself inflated her ego.

Tessa, the chief scientist and resident living computer, entered the room, her storm grey eyes looking almost bored as she stood before the trio. Aries frowned as he saw her, but refrained from showing any more emotion. Tessa was their primary link to Pisces and Scorpio on the western coast of Delpoi, and he didn't want her complicating things by telling the scientist that he was ostracizing her due to something as menial as who she spent her time with. Pisces would use anything he could to get under Aries' skin.

"Any side effects, Tessa?" Aries asked.

"Nothing major, her vitals are fine and her reflexes are superb compared to that of an average human. All in all, the Circuit Breaker suit was a success." Tessa said.

"Of course it is," Aquarius said. "After all, it was made by yours truly."

Indeed, it was Aquarius who had came up with the concept of a suit that used electromagnetism as a weapon. It was made possible with the data they gained from the proto-cube they procured from the Exodus wreckage. It was a wire thin suit that was bonded to Beller's body-mostly her nervous system. By enhancing the electrical impulses that her nerves produced, the suit allowed her to control electromagnetic energy at will, enabling her to control electricity and-to a degree-machinery as well. It was a fitting weapon against the Cybertronians, who were living machines and thus subject to the weaknesses and limitations that other machines were weak to. Not to mention it also had the unintended side effect of allowing her to control anything that ran on electricity, namely the Talos that she set on Jazz in the testing area.

Yes, the Circuit Breaker suit was amazing, but Aries had to admit that it could've covered much more than just a small portion of Beller's body. Neither he nor Aquarius were bothered by the former major's skimpy costume, but they had to sow some decorum when doing their job lest they be seen as exhibitionists. Granted, Beller didn't mind having it show off most of her body. In fact, Aries figured that she enjoyed flaunting her stuff as she caused mayhem and chaos.

"Does this mean that we can finish completing the Circuit Breaker Talos?" Tessa asked.

"Yes, dear. Go on and tell the others." Aquarius answered, smirking. "This field test is just the beginning."

Tessa nodded and left the room. Aries turned to Beller. "Are you ready? We're going to need you to test out the actual Talos that was designed to work in tandem with the suit. It will be hard, and not like piloting those large clunks of scrap that they made you use in the army."

"I'm ready, sir. With my new power, those machines won't know what hit them." Beller said confidently. "It shouldn't be too hard fighting a bunch of extraterrestrial tin-cans."

"Temper that arrogance, Beller." Aries said firmly, making her jump a bit. "They are not to be underestimated. The Cybertronians are not just machines, but living, intelligent creatures-creatures who have fought wars with beings far more dangerous than us. When you fight them, you must take them seriously, or they will make your life very hard."

"As much as I'm loath to admit it, Aries has a point. As soon as you start thinking of them as mindless automatons, you're going to look like a fool out there," Aquarius told her. "Like they did poor Aries here."

"I understand, sir." Beller said. Though deep down, she disregarded their warnings. These so-called aliens were nothing more than bolts and gears with fancy weapons, and she had power over them. All she needed was time, and those tin-cans were dead in the water. Nothing will stand against Circuit Breaker!

XXXXXXX

It was after hours in the Ark, and everyone had long since gone to sleep or were out on patrol. The Autobots had long since come to the conclusion that OZ was behind the thefts and Jazz's current condition, though they had no idea how. Most of the Bots wanted to get back at them for wounding one of their own, but Prime put his foot down and stopped that train of thought before it derailed.

After escorting Darren and Annie back home, Arcee sat in the med bay next to the CR chamber that Jazz was floating in. It was strange seeing her friend and master inside the tank, motionless and weak. She was so used to seeing him laugh and joke around while kicking ass at the same time. After seeing him as this super strong mech who didn't let the weight of the world hold him down, she forgot that he was just as susceptible to death as anyone else. It was a sobering and scary thought.

"What are you doing here, nya?"

Arcee looked down and saw Peppercat walk up to her. She smiled, Peppercat hadn't spoke to her much after information was leaked about Prowl's involvement with the Luna-2 massacre, and she missed the red Minicon's company. It got a bit lonely when she didn't have Darren and High Wire to spend her free time with.

"Hey, Pepper," Arcee said. "I was just…keeping Jazz company."

Peppercat cocked her head and looked up at Jazz. "He doesn't look like he's enjoying your company, nya."

"That's because he's in stasis. He doesn't know that I'm here." Arcee replied.

They sat in silence for a moment before Peppercat spoke up again. "Are you alright, nya?"

"Honeslty…no, I'm not doing very well right now." Arcee sighed. "I'm just a little shaken up by seeing Jazz taken out so easily. He always seemed unstoppable to me, you know? Like nothing could touch him. Seeing him like this brings back some bad memories."

"Does it remind you of…her?" Peppercat asked. Arcee smiled down at the Minicon.

"Yes, it reminds me of Moonracer, Pepper. You don't have to dance around her name, I've…sort of gotten over it."

Arcee had been seeking help from both Optimus and Jazz about the vivid memories of her little sister's death. She used to have nightmares endlessly after the incident on Cybertron, and those nightmares came back after running into Flamewar again. Jazz was doing his best to help her, but he said that the grief will never truly go away, it will still fester within her heart, and haunt her. The best she could do was cope with it and move onward with her life. She was doing fine until this happened, and the experience shook her greatly.

Jazz was there for her every step of the way. He helped her when she was stuck in a descent of grief and pain and tried to kill herself on multiple missions on Cybertron. He stayed with her no matter how many bad things she said to him, or how she tried to blow him off. He taught her how to find inner peace, and to let go of your worries in the face of danger. Just let things run their course and don't let your struggles weigh you down lest they keep you from moving on in life. It was a philosophy that he shared with many people, from Optimus Prime to Rodimus.

"He will be fine," Peppercat said. "Jazz is too strong to let this keep him down, nya. He didn't survive the War for Cybertron just to get offlined by a stinky human, nya."

"Yeah, you're right. I guess I was just suffering from a bit of anxiety." Arcee chuckcled. She held out her hand and Peppercat jumped into her palm, switching to beast mode and curling up into her warm hand. "Thank you for being here with me, Peppercat. I needed that."

"Anything for a friend, nya."

XXXXXXXX

Beller looked up at her new Talos-the MK2 Circuit Breaker, designed just for her. She stood in the hanger of the secret OZ base underground near central Delpoi, waiting until she was deployed to properly test the Circuit Breaker suit and Talos. The techs were doing some last minute checks on the operational systems, but she was assured that everything should go smoothly so long as she doesn't go overboard.

The Circuit Breaker mech was designed with the same OZ aesthetic as the other units-it was large but slender, and had heavy armor plating designed to withstand anti-tank rounds, the same type of composite armor that the Helic Talos used in fact. It was dark gunmetal grey, with a smooth face and blue optics. Looking behind the mecha, she saw that it had two whips connected to a large backpack that looked like an eye sore on an otherwise perfect machine.

"What the hell is this?" Beller asked.

"It's Circuit Breaker's new weapon," Tessa walked up to the woman, her eyes on a touchpad as she spoke to the pilot. "Circuit Breaker is equipped with a pair of plasma whips that are capable of cutting through most material thanks to the ionized plasma channels in the forearms. It's similar to the weapons that we're using for the gunships based on our own understanding of integrated energy mechanics. The armor is reinforced so that it won't get hit by its own whips and damaged."

"You think I'm dumb enough to get hit by my own weapons?" Beller sneered. Tessa didn't even look up as she answered the question.

"No, but it doesn't hurt to be safe." She said. "Continuing on, the unit doesn't have a traditional control system. It's designed to be piloted by you and only you via the suit that you're going to wear. Just control it with your electrical impulses like you do other machines and it should be a breeze to control."

"Any other surprises?"

"No. the Talos enhances the suit's output greatly, but watch yourself." Tessa warned. "Do not go overboard when you use your powers. All it takes is a well-placed hit for everything to overload, and believe me when I say that you don't want the suit going nuts on your body."

Beller snorted. "Please, like they'll be able to hit me. Those machines will be no match for me."

Tessa frowned at the arrogance that Beller was showing. She had read the woman's field report; she was a former major who was a Helic Talos pilot in charge of her own squad. Beller was a great pilot, but she had a temper and was not above using her men as scapegoats if it meant victory for all. It was an attitude that she made no effort to hide or change in her career. Though her performance on the battlefield was commendable, the military officials couldn't get past her general disregard for the lives of her soldiers and she was dishonorably discharged. Now that Tessa thought about it, Beller had worked with Colonel Jonathan Wraith, a known hard ass who was pretty much no different than her, except he was one of those people who saw the profit in exploiting espers as weapons for the military. Seeing as how Wraith was a no-nonsense soldier who valued order above all else, even other people. She could see how Beller got away with what she did.

She only hoped that this trigger happy G.I. Jane didn't screw things up in battle. The Circuit Breaker suit and Talos cost a pretty penny to make, and a lot of sleepless nights working on making it the best it can be for warfare, and the last thing she needed was all that work going up in flames because one woman thought she was Zeus on steroids.

The intercom blared and Aries' deep voice was heard throughout the base. " _All units prepare to move out in ten."_

"Better suit up, Beller," Tessa said. "It's show time."

XXXXXX

"Optimus, I got something." Prowl said.

Optimus entered the command center, where Prowl was standing in front of a holo-display projecting a map of Delpoi. "What is it, Prowl?"

"Teletran just intercepted an emergency transmission a few minutes ago." Prowl reported. "I think it's our guy."

Prowl pressed a button and a man's voice rang through the speaker, sounding panicked and out of breath. _"This is watch command of Hancock military base requesting reinforcements! We are under attack by an unknown militia that is heavily armed. There is an epser that is shooting lighting and-wait, no get back from that or you'll-"_ There was a loud boom and the transmission ended.

Optimus's face turned grim. "OZ."

"My thoughts exactly," Prowl agreed and turned to Prime. "But I never pegged them to outright attack a military base in open warfare like that."

"It's a ploy to draw us out. They're not afraid of getting exposed, as the attack can easily be blamed on Karaba." Optimus said. "And that esper he mentioned could be the one who attacked Jazz."

"Orders?"

"Gather Bumblebee, Arcee, and Ironhide. Have Bulkhead and Wheeljack on standby until I give the word." Optimus said.

XXXXXXX

 **Hancock Military Base**

The ground bridge opened up in the middle of the facility and Optimus's team drove out of the portal before transforming and pulling out their weapons. It took them a second to process the carnage that had went on in such a short amount of time.

The base was a wreck, with the remains of Talos, tanks and helicopters lying across the ground like broken toys. The hangar was in flames, and the Autobots were horrified to see the charred corpses of soldiers as well-most were burned beyond recognition and others looked like they were cut cleanly in half, their faces frozen in expressions of pain and fear. It was a complete massacre.

"Primus," Arcee gasped.

"Ratchet, we're at the base, but there is no sign of the enemy." Optimus said in a tight voice.

" _There is no way they would be gone that quickly. We just got the distress call a few minutes ago."_ Ratchet said. " _Be on your guard. It could be a trap."_

"Affirmative." Optimus said and raised his ion cannon. "Autobots, form up."

They got in a circle formation and cautiously walked through the ravaged base, trying to ignore the large number of human corpses that littered the ground. It was clear that OZ did not want any survivors to squeal on what went on here, but where were they? They didn't lower their guard, as surprise attacks and ambushes were OZ's forte. They made the Republic's black-ops program look like kids playing ninjas compared to them.

Then Ironhide heard a loud clang of something hitting metal. He raised his cannons and slowly edged towards one of the undamaged hangars, trying to see what made the noise.

"Something wrong, Hide?" Bumblebee asked.

Ironhide looked around for a bit before shaking his head. "I thought I heard some-gah!"

Ironhide was hit in the chest by a powerful bolt of lightning that sent him crashing to the ground and into a destroyed tank. He groaned as he sat up, fingering a smoking hole in his chest plate. A blast like that would've shot right through his torso had he not been so densely armored.

Optimus, Arcee and Bumblebee turned towards their attacker. It was a Talos, a grey one that had on heavy armor and had a long cannon sticking out of its right arm. The Circuit Breaker stomped forward, keeping its cold gaze focused on the Autobots.

"My name is Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots." Optimus said. "Identify yourself."

"Josie Beller, proud operative of OZ, and I know who you are machine." Beller said. "It's the whole reason I called you here."

"You mean you endangered and hurt these people just to get us here?" Arcee growled.

"Couldn't find you in the phonebook." Beller replied. Though they couldn't see it, they could hear the smirk in her voice.

Bumblebee almost charged at her, but Optimus stopped him. He looked at the strange mecha. "What do you want from us?"

"Your parts, what else?"

Spotlights shined down on the Autobots and they saw twelve gunships flying above them with their weapons trained on them. Zygart Talos and Orion mecha tanks rolled into the yard, and to the Autobots' surprise, the tanks that weren't destroyed began to move and pointed their cannons forward. And to make things worse, two more Talos appeared. One was Aries' mecha, the red armored god of war-Krios. But the other one was unfamiliar.

It was sky blue, with a very thin frame that was only lightly armored at its vital areas and the cockpit. It looked more like something from a fashion magazine, with white designs on the arms and legs, with a head that sported an adornment that looked like a sunhat. What made this unit even more strange was the large spikes of ice that jutted out of its armor panels, covering its joints and limbs, but were mostly centered on its back. This Talos was the personal unit of Aquarius-Hydrakoos.

"Not these two again." Bumblebee groaned.

"Hello again, Autobots." Aries greeted them. Krios turned to Arcee. "And Arcee, you're looking well. How are the twins?"

"Better now that they're away from you." Arcee sneered.

"Good. Wouldn't want any interruptions from them, would we?" Aries replied. "All units, open fire on the Autobots. But leave enough to be salvaged later."

XXXXXXXX

When the kids entered the ground bridge with Jetfire, they were met with the sight of Wheejack and Bulkhead waiting in the shuttle bay with Prowl. Ratchet was busy at the Teletran-1 terminal working on something.

"What's going on?" Darren asked.

"OZ." Bulkhead said. "They just attacked a military base and Optimus took a team ahead to investigate it."

"The action already started and you didn't call us?" Annie asked, frowning at Bulkhead.

"You kids are not fighters, nor are you combatants." Prowl said. "I don't have an obligation to call you for every crisis. Not to mention you'll get in the way."

At that moment, Prime's voice came over the comm-channel. " _Optimus to base, we're in need of reinforcements! We are outnumbered."_

"That's our cue." Wheeljack said.

Ratchet activated the ground bridge and Prowl went ahead with Bulkhead, Jetfire and Wheeljack to help their friends. The kids stood there with their Minicon friends looking less than pleased at Prowl's words.

"He acts like you guys didn't save his ass from a two-headed dragon." Grindor said.

"Hmm," Darren hummed, but was deep in thought. Annie recognized that look as one Darren's rare moments of daring that drove him to do something stupid and courageous at the same time.

"Darren, what are you thinking?" High Wire asked.

"Something cool I hope." Annie said.

"You bet it's cool, and dangerous." Darren said. Annie grinned.

"Now you're acting like my twin."

"Whatever it is you're thinking, don't even try it." Ratchet said. "This isn't your fight."

"They made it our fight when they kidnapped out sister." Darren said. "The Autobots are outnumbered and they need all the help they can get. And we have the means to do that now."

"I don't care, Optimus will have my head if I sent you out into that mess now."

"Let them go, doc," Jazz appeared in the hallway, limping along the wall. "They'll go out anyway. Might as well give 'em the keys to the car now."

"Jazz!" The kids exclaimed. Ratchet ran over and helped the Autobot to his feet.

"Jazz, you're not supposed to be up yet," Ratchet hissed. "I haven't replaced your arm yet!"

"It doesn't matter now. What does is beating those stupid nutjobs before they cause more damage to boss bot and the others." Jazz said. "Let the kids go, doc. OZ practically knows how we operate and they're trained to fight us." He grinned down at the kids. "But not three super powerful Talos."

The kids looked at each other and nodded. It was time to get to work and do their part for the team.

XXXXXXX

The Hancock military base was once again a battleground-harboring a much more destructive battle between two major forces. The Autobots were systematically separated from each other. Beller and the Zygart squadron were holding off the Autobots while the gunships kept Optimus from reaching his team. Aries and Aquarius had also entered the battle, fighting Optimus to wear him down enough for them to him bring him in. Once again OZ had stepped up their game using their prior knowledge of Cybertronian physiology and Autobot battle tactics.

Ironhide and Bumblebee were trying not to get shelled by the unmanned tanks as they fired back at the collection of Zygart mecha that were keeping them on their toes. Arcee was fighting Beller herself, but fighting the woman proved to be more difficult than she thought, as her weapons weren't doing much damage on Circuit Breaker's thick armor.

Arcee jumped up and tried to bring her swords down on Beller, but she dodged the attack with astounding speed and fired her plasma whip. Arcee felt her body get jolted violent before she was pulled off the ground and swung through the air. Beller released the whip and Arcee went crashing into Ironhide, knocking both Autobots into the remains of a tank. Beller didn't waste a single moment as she fired another bolt at Bumblebee.

But instead of taking him out, Beller used Circuit Breaker's amplification abilities in an attempt to control him. The scout gritted his teeth as he struggle to resist the strong invisible pull on his body, wincing as he felt powerful electrical surges run through his inner circuitry. Beller frowned as she noticed how difficult it was trying to control the Autobot. They were machines, she shouldn't be having any problems in controlling them. Could be because they were living organisms as well?

"It doesn't matter," Beller grinned. "All machines bow to Circuit Breaker sooner or later."

She sent more electricity at Bumblebee, weakening his body until she was sure that he would be more receptive to her advances. When he fell to his knees in pain, she raised her Talos' hands and forced the Autobot to stand up. Then she had him move towards his downed comrades and open fire on Arcee. The pink Autobot cursed and avoided the laser blasts that Bumblebee shot at her, but a missile fired from one of the Zygarts hit her in the back and sent her to the ground.

"A-Arcee," Bumblebee grunted. Beller smirked and had one of the tanks spin its cannon barrel around and aimed at Arcee's downed form. "No!"

A fission blast hit the tank and blew it apart. Ironhide appeared from the smoke, his left cannon smoking from his latest shot. Beller growled and fired a bolt at Ironhide, catching him in the torso, but was surprise to see that the red Autobot didn't go down like last time.

"You'll have to do more than that to keep me down!" Ironhide growled, pointing his cannons at her. He was going to blow her straight to hell and end this sick little game.

"Looks like I'll have to do more, then." Beller said. With a flick of her wrist, two plasma whips were shot from Circuit Breaker's arms at Ironhide. One cut through his right cannon, making it explode on his arm, and the other wrapped around his torso. She willed the whips to generate high voltages of energy that engulfed the Autobot and caused him to yell in pain.

Arcee tried to help her friend, but Bumblebee opened fire on her again and she was forced to take cover behind a building to avoid the heavy bombardment that was hitting her. She hissed in pain as she felt the sizzling hole in her side where the missile hit her. There was no way she could get to Ironhide or Bumblebee without getting blasted into submission.

"Not so superior now, are you machine?" Beller laughed.

"Arcee, fall back!" Ironhdie said. He grunted as he was electrocuted violently once again.

"Shut up you, stupid tin can!"

"Arcee! Ironhide!" Optimus pointed his Ion cannon at Beller to shoot her down, but his gun was knocked from his hand by a water tendril that threw it away. He rolled to the side to avoid another wave that froze as soon as it touched the ground. The Hydrakoos was shooting jets of water at Prime, and Aquarius was controlling the water from within her suit, mentally willing the liquid to do what she wanted.

"You aren't going anywhere, Prime." Aries said. Krios had its adamantium sword drawn and was stalking towards Prime. "We've spent a lot of money and resources trying to get you all here, and we're not about to let you waste it all again."

Aries charged at Optimus, but was forced to stop short as Optimus drew his energon axe and spun it around his body. Aries grinned. Finally, a battle that he was actually looking forward to.

Then a ground bridge opened up, and Prowl ran out of the portal with Bulkhead and Wheeljack in tow. They opened fire on the Zygarts, using the element of surprise to take out three and drive the others away. Wheeljack brought out one of his shoulder cannons and fired a shell into the air. It exploded and rained down gyro-inhibitors, which caused the Zygart's systems to go haywire as soon as they touched the Talos. The pilots had no idea what was going on as their units began to malfunction.

"It's hammer time!" Bulkhead ran forward and began smashing the suits with his wrecking ball. Bullets bounced off his bulky form as he crushed the head of a Zygart in his hands and lifted a tank above his head. With a grunt, he swung the large machine at two units, smashing them into the side of a building.

Beller let out a curse and released Ironhide to take out the green Autobot that was wiping out their ground forces. But she was surprised by Wheeljack, who wrapped his energo-whip around Circuit Breaker's leg and pulled, sending her to the ground. Arcee ran from cover and charged Beller, bring out her dual swords. Seeing that she was being attacked from both sides, Beller channeled energy from her body and into her unit, willing it to move faster.

The Circuit Breaker's cockpit was completely different from that of normal Talos. It sported a large harness that was designed to connect to the spinal column along Beller's suit. From there, she could channel hher electrical impulses directly from her body into the machine's systems, controlling the Talos' hydraulic system as if it were her own musculature system. This method of piloting the Talos made its reaction time increasingly faster than even that of the Zodiac Talos-though the technology has room for improvement, as Beller could cause the Talos to break down if she strained the unit past its tested limits.

Circuit Breaker moved so fast that its joints groaned as it shot up to its feet. Beller gritted her teeth as she channeled more energy through the Talos' limbs and gave a thunderous yell as she released a large electromagnetic wave that blasted both Arcee and Wheeljack away from her. She whipped around and snagged Wheeljack in the air with her plasms whips and used Circuit Breaker's immense strength to drag the Autobot and throw him at Arcee. The engineer crashed into Arcee, pinning her to the ground.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Beller snarled. "I'm the superior one here, not a bunch of mindless machines!"

The battle between Optimus and Prowl against Aquarius and Aries was not going well. Optimus was doing well against Aries' amazing sword skills, managing to force his Krios to keep up with Prime's speed and strength, but Prowl wasn't faring as well. Aquarius was using her powers over water to keep the Autobot on his toes. Realistically, Prowl should've been able to best the Hydrakoos given that it has little armaments and light armor, but the jets of water that it shot at him moved like snakes, slashing at him with hardened points that were sharp enough to cut through steel.

Aquarius summoned two long tendrils of water and sent them at Prowl, who ducked under them and fired his rifle. A wall of ice blocked the laser, shattering on impact, but Aquarius was already on the move, using the water under her unit's feet to move along the ground as if she were skating. Prowl kept shooting at her, but she easily evaded his shots, giggling like they were playing a fun game.

"I like you, Prowl," Aquarius smiled. "You're much more fun than I give you credit for."

"This is war! Take this seriously!" Prowl said. He shot at the ground in front of Hydrakoos, shattering the ice under its feet and causing it to stumble. Aquarius cursed as she tried to keep her unit upright and saw Prowl running at her.

"Fine then, you want serious? Let's get serious." She hissed. Aquarius raised her suit's arms and the water under Prowl began to move. The Autobot noticed too late that he was within her range of control and made to transform, but she didn't give him the chance. Clenching her hands, the water engulfed Prowl in a large bubble, leaving only his head free. Another hand gesture froze the bubble, leaving him encased in ice. Then she began to squeeze the bubble around his body, tightening its hold on her. "How's that for serious?"

Her concentration was broken when a large axe slammed into the ground inches from her unit. She jumped back, and turned just in time to see Optimus barrel into her with the force of a freight train. Aquarius jostled violently in her seat and would have crashed against the monitor had she not have her seatbelt on, granted having it dig into her chest wasn't a pleasant feeling either. The Hydrakoos slammed into the ground with Prime on top of it, and he raised his fist to smash its camera head in. Aquarius raised her real arms and had the water from the tanks on her unit's back explode and grab Prime's arms.

"Ugh!" Optimus grunted as he felt his arms pull back and was fell onto his back, with his hands frozen to the ground up to his elbows. Aquarius made sure to freeze his legs as well. "No!"

Aquarius stood her Talos up and she glared at Aries through her monitor. "What the hell was that? I thought you had him!"

"Obviously, you've never fought a true warrior before." Aries remarked as he walked over to their captured prize. "But that doesn't matter. We have what we came here for. Optimus Prime."

"And it seems Beller is doing well against the Autobots." Aquarius said. "Good to know that we didn't just waste nearly ten thousand dollars on a large paperweight."

"Beller, wrap it up." Aries ordered. "We're pulling out."

"What? But I'm not finished with them yet!" She said. The Krios turned to Circuit Breaker, eyes flashing dangerously.

"That's an order, Beller." Aries growled. "I'm not one of those pencil pushing army commanders. Disobey me, and I will kill you."

Beller scowled but did as she was told and retracted her plasms whips. The only Autobots that weren't seriously wounded were Arcee, Wheeljack and Bulkhead, but they were still engaged with the gunships that were firing on them. Aries may have considered this a victory, but she knew that they didn't win until all these things were destroyed.

Aries radioed the airship that they had waiting a few miles back. "We're moving out with two captives to transport. Ready the scramblers and- "

Aries was cut off as two of the gunships were destroyed by a green beam of energy that was fired from the sky. Both generals got their weapons ready, but they weren't ready for the second beam that exploded the ground in front of them, cutting them off from the entrapped Prime. Looking up, they saw Jetfire's white form zip through the air like an arrow as he fired several missiles at the attacking gunships, taking out two of the seven that remained.

"Where did he come from?" Aries asked.

"It doesn't matter!" Aquarius snarled. "Beller, shoot him down!"

"Yes sir." Beller had Circuit Breaker focus on Jetfire and charged up for a large EMP blast that was sure to take the Autobot out-along with the surrounding aircraft. But before she could fire, something grabbed her Talos and restrained its arms. "What the hell?"

Aries watched as something invisible grabbed onto Circuit Breaker and to his amazement, watched it fly into the air, out of the base into the surrounding perimeter-away from Beller's support team. He didn't see the ice around Optimus' hands and feet shatter until Prime kicked the Krios' legs from under it and flipped onto his feet. The Hydrakoos spun around to fight him, but something dropped down in front of her-a black Talos with more weapons than an M4 with a full loadout. It was Annie's Talos-Enyo.

"Annie? What are you doing here?" Optimus asked.

"Saving you, of course." Annie grinned from her cockpit. "Don't worry, I came with back-up for the backp-up."

Optimus said the ice bubble around Prowl shatter and looked up to see the red and gold body of Prometheus lowering itself to the ground next to him. Green Sol particles vented from the Vernier thrusters in its legs and Apollo drive as it went from flight mode to fight mode.

"We're here to support you guys. That's always been our job, right?" Darren said, not taking his eyes off Krios. "Let us help you, just this once if we have to."

Aries' eyes widened as he heard the twins' voices from these new Talos. "Darren and Annie Radcliffe? How is this possible?"

"Don't act so surprised. You had this coming the moment you fucked with our family." Annie said. The Enyo trained its wrist cannon and shoulder-mounted minigun on Krios. "Karma's a bitch isn't it?"

Aquarius scowled and sent three water whips at Prime, but to her surprise, they dispersed halfway there, as if evaporated within seconds. The Prometheus stepped next to Optimus, radiating power from its form in a familiar way that she felt from other espers she encountered in the past. This machine was probably piloted by the esper boy that Aries had mentioned. Perfect.

"Who authorized you three to come into battle? You aren't ready for this." Optimus said.

"Optimus, with all due respect, we're were put in danger the minute we met you guys." Darren replied. "At least now we are on equal grounds."

"Equal? There's nothing equal about us, boy." Aquarius said. Water blossomed around Hydrakoos like a flailing octopus, tentacles slamming against the ground. "Step aside or I'll turn your little toy into a pin cushion."

"You can try." Darren smirked.

XXXXXXXXX

Beller grunted as Circuit Breaker hit the rocky ground in the area outside of the base. She felt the hold over her machine leave and immediately shot to her feet, looking around for whoever had done that. She saw nothing, and heard nothing either, only hearing the sounds of battle from inside the base.

"Who did that? Show yourself, you stupid machine!" Beller shouted. "I'm not afraid of you!"

Two laser blasts hit the side of her mecha, blasting off bits of armor from its arm and damaging the plasms coils in the shoulder. Beller turned and fired two bolts in the direction the blasts came from, but hit nothing. She was getting tired of this game. Did one of those bots have some kind of stealth tech?

"Stop playing around and come out so I can beat you to the ground!" Beller yelled out.

"Well, since you asked so nicely." A girl said.

The air in front of her shimmered, before a large shape appeared. Beller found herself facing a white and purple Talos that had appeared from thin air, with two cannons on its arms smoking from the shots it just fired. Beller scowled as she realized that it wasn't an Autobot, but a Talos being piloted by a human. And judging from the sound of her voice, it was a girl!

"So the Autobots send kids to do their dirty work? Can they get any more pathetic?" Beller laughed.

"Big talk for a woman who acts like she's tough shit because she wearing a fancy suit." Gina replied. "You do well against Bots who are weak to your weapons, but how about fighting someone who knows what you're capable of?"

"You're gonna regret fighting me little girl."

Beller charged forward and fired twin bolts that tore up the ground as it arced through the air. Gina engaged her Athena's thrusters and flew out of the way with astounding speed-enough to make her jolt in her seat a bit. Thinking back on Sara's lessons on easing up on her unit's particle emissions, Gina lowered the output she was giving off and flew towards Beller. The Circuit Breaker fired more electrical lances that lit up the dark area, but to Beller's surprise, the bolts were deflected by some invisible force field in front of Athena.

Beller growled, finding her pride wounded at having such a hard time fighting a kid using a toy robot to defeat her. She lifted her suit's leg and kicked at Athena's head, but it stopped short of her armored foot. Then before she knew it, there was a flash of light before her monitor and there were alerts flashing across her screen saying that her Talos' right leg had been cut off.

"What?!" She shouted.

She was so focused on her rage that she failed to notice Gina draw her beam saber and cut off the Circuit Breaker's leg in one slash before placing it back in its hardpoint. Now the Talos that OZ had invested so much in was missing a leg at the knee. Now she was forced to hop on one leg, trying not to fall over in front of this enemy that was obviously faster than her. Normally this would be the signal to fall back to her troops and avoid damaging the Talos any further, but Beller was a woman who deeply respected her pride and skill as a soldier and a pilot. Having a kid best her like that did not bode well for her inflated ego. Thus, like all those who were blinded by pride and arrogance, she went in for another attack-this time lashing out with her plasma whips. A savage grin formed on her face as she saw the Athena get entrapped by her whips.

"How's that you little brat? Feel too hot for ya?" Beller laughed. "Well it's about to get hotter!"

She upped the voltage on the whips, increasing the plasma charge coursing through them, but also causing the generator on Circuit Breaker's back to heat up a bit-which was not a good thing. Unknown to Beller, the Athena was surrounded by a light barrier that was only an inch thick and hovered along the surface of the Talos' armor. It was protected by the very sol particles that it vented, but that could only last for a few minutes-five at best.

'Five minutes is all I need.' Gina thought. Despite her unit's arms being trapped, Gina still had her legs to use. Activating the jump jets in the Talos' legs, she aimed her thrusters at Circuit Breaker's head and fired them up, shooting intense flames into Circuit Breaker's face.

Beller cursed as her main camera was filled with bright flames, and she tried to move back, only to lose her balance and fall over, taking the Athena with her. The Circuit Breaker crashed to the ground, and its hold on Athena loosened, allowing Gina to jump back and extend her suit's pulse cannons.

"This is the only time I'm going to say this," Gina's voice said through the external speakers. "Leave with your buddies and save what's left of your dignity."

"Who the fuck are you to be giving me orders!" Beller roared. "I'm ten times the pilot you'll ever be! No one can beat me like this! Not those robots and not a little shit stain like you!"

"Can't say I didn't warn you." Gina sighed. She fired her pulse cannons at Circuit Breaker, and the enemy Talos raised its arms to block the laser bolts that shot through the air. Beller was hoping that her Talos' heavy armor would spare her from getting blown to pieces.

It was true-if she was dealing with conventional arms. But the energy pulses that Gina shot at her grew stronger the farther they traveled, absorbing static energy from the atmosphere as it was fired at her. They hit the arms of her Talos, blasting through the thick composite armor and tearing apart the plasma channels connected to her generator. Beller was jostled in her harness as her Circuit Breaker lost its arms, but otherwise remained undamaged, and it fell to the ground.

Gina waited for it to move, but it didn't. She edged her Talos closer to the damaged unit and made sure that it was completely immobile before lowering her weapons.

"Thank heavens," Gina breathed. "Time to go help- "

A lightning bolt tore through the cockpit hatch of Circuit Breaker's torso plate and hit the Athena. The bolt scrambled its systems and caused everything to go haywire, making Gina lose control of her unit. She braced herself as the Talos stumbled back a step before crashing to the ground, dead in the water.

"Oh come on!" Gina yelled. Her cockpit was dark, as the main cameras, computers and even the Apollo drive were completely dead. It would all reboot in time, but she knew that Beller was coming after her.

Beller tore her way out of her dead Talos and floated into the air, clad in her original suit and firing lightning bolts every in her rage. The savage look in her eyes and the way her hair stood up in different directions made her look like a demon with the power over the storms itself.

"Come on out, little girl." Beller cackled. "I want to look at your face as I burn it off!"

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that."

Beller spun around to see Sara standing there, looking up at her calmly despite the lightshow that was going on around her. Beller dropped to the ground and glared at the android. Another robot, great. Were these things breeding?

"What the hell are you?" She asked.

"I am Sara, personal attendant to Ms. Gina and developer of the Talos you just disabled." Sara answered. "I suggest that you refrain from damaging that unit. Repairing it is quite a chore."

"I can do whatever I want, machine." Beller sneered. "Who the hell are you to tell me what to do?"

"I am no one. But compared to you, I am as human as a bioroid like me can be." Sara replied, further angering Beller. "Now I won't tell you again. Please refrain from damaging that unit and leave with you companions peacefully."

"What are you going to do if I don't do what you say? You gonna blow me up, or just shoot me?"

"I'm not going to shoot you." Sara said. She pointed behind Beller. "She is."

Beller had no time to react as she was hit in the back by a plasma blast, courtesy of Gina who had her upgraded plasma blaster on hand for situations like these. She had, unknowingly, shot the power pack that was connected to Beller's spine and allowed her to control her electricity. With it having been severely damaged, Gina had caused the thing to overload, and before the blonde's horrified eyes, the woman was violently electrocuted. Gina backed up as she saw Beller scream in agony as thousands of volts surged through her body, ripping away her skin and burning her hair to the scalp. The thin metal strips that clung to Beller's skin did not help at all, and the electricity had caused them to melt into her skin, heating up to scalding temperatures.

All this had only taken a few minutes to occur, during which Beller had stopped screaming and fell to the ground with smoke rising off her form. Gina held her breath as she smelled Beller's burned flesh and went back to her cockpit to get away from the horrible sight. As for Sara, she looked down at the motionless Josie Beller and said,

"I told you to cease you actions. This is what you get for not listening to a superior life form."

XXXXXXX

Aquarius let out another curse as she saw the water around her get deflected once more. The boy was certainly a force to be reckoned with. Though his piloting skills were nothing of note, Darren's enhanced telekinesis was starting to give her a headache. The ground looked like a hurricane tore through the area as Darren tore large stones from the ground and threw them at her, forcing her to go on the defensive. Every time she got past his heavy offense, she had to avoid the beam rifle that he pointed at her. No amount of armor could block a beam that powerful, as seen with the two Zygarts that got taken down with one shot each. And she wasn't going to see if ice could keep the beam from reaching her.

'Aries has never said the boy was this powerful!' Aquarius thought. 'To be able to pilot a Talos and manipulate the environment at the same time, that takes concentration and skill. Who the hell is this boy?'

But despite her troubles, Aquarius did not envy Aries' position. The three-eyed general was also having difficulty fighting Annie and Optimus. Armed with only an adamantium sword and a shoulder mounted rocket launcher, Aries had little to no weapons dealing with long range offense. He was a close-range fighter who treated his Krios like it was his sword and shield-though said shield was taking a pounding from the armor piercing bullets and missiles that came at him without end. Had his Talos not been built to OZ specs, he would be missing an arm and a leg right now.

Aries fought like a warrior, he got in close fast enough not to let his enemy get the jump on him with any long range weapons like guns and missiles, before cutting them down in one or two strikes. It allowed him to end a battle that would not have been in his favor in any other situation. But Annie, who had a knack for spotting little quirks like this, knew that he was limited to a delayed shot rocket launcher as his only source of mid-range offense, and a broadsword that was easy to deal with if you stayed away from it. She kept him at arm's length, riddling the Krios with bullets and taking a chance to fire a missile if she had an opening.

"This is getting us nowhere." Aquarius muttered. She turned her Talos to avoid a tank cannon barrel that was fired at her, and willed a field of ice spikes to shoot out of the ground to keep Darren at a distance. "Where the hell is Beller?!"

As if to answer her question, one of the remaining gunships that retreated from Jetfire's onslaught called her up. " _General, I have a visual on Beller's Circuit Breaker. It's…"_ The pilot trailed off, unsure of how to break the news to Aquarius. " _The Circuit Breaker is severely damaged, sir. I think it's been rendered inoperable, and there is a white Talos standing over the wreckage."_

'Of fucking course!' Aquarius swore in her mind. How the hell did this mission go south? They were doing so good! "What about Agent Beller?"

" _I have a visual on her to, sir. She's also incapacitated. I don't see any movement from her at all. I think she might need some medical attention."_

Aquarius closed her eyes and counted to ten. That was it. Their main trump card against the Autobots was most likely dead or crippled, and the weapon that was most effective against the Cybertronians was now in the Autobots' hands. This was a wonderful night. Swallowing her anger, she called Aries.

"Aries, we're pulling out now. We've lost Beller and the Circuit Breaker." She said.

"What? But how," Aries cut himself off. She knew that he had come to the same conclusion. The children were behind this landslide of a failure. "Very well. All units, break contact and initiate omega protocols."

Darren boosted back over to his sister, who had her weapons trained on a severely battered Krios. He saw that the OZ troops, mech-less pilots and the gunships were making a run for it. "It looks like they're running away."

"Sweet! We made those bastards run home with their tail between their legs!" Annie said.

The Hydrakoos and Krios stood side by side. Even though they couldn't see it, the twins could feel the baleful glare that Aries was giving them.

"Make no mistake, boy. This is a tactical retreat." Aries said. "The next time we meet, it will be on our terms."

"And we will win." Aquarius promised.

"We'll be waiting for you then, three eyes." Darren replied. Aries turned his sights onto Optimus.

"Until next time, Optimus Prime. No matter who wins the war, they will have to face the might of the Zodiac-no matter what faction they are."

The gunships fired smoke grenades that covered the base in smoke, covering the generals' escape. Optimus and the twins rant to intercept them, but the two OZ generals were already gone. The other Autobots regrouped around the three, and Optimsu faced the twins.

"Darren, Annie," He said. "That was incredibly risky of you to enter the fight like that. Engaging the enemy who has more skill and experience than you was dangerous."

"Not to mention foolhardy." Prowl said, crossing his arms.

"But your intervention turned the tide of the battle. And you saved my life," Optimus said. "For that, I thank you."

In her cockpit, Annie blushed at the praise. Getting a thank you from Optimus made her heart flutter, and boosted her morale. Darren felt the same way.

Optimus looked at Prowl, who stared back at him before venting and looking at the twins. "I want to thank you both, as well. Though your methods were uncouth, they did help us in the battle. Perhaps you three aren't as helpless as I thought you were."

"That means a lot coming from you, Prowl. Thanks." Darren said. He said that with such honesty, that Prowl cleared his throat and looked away.

"Yes, well," He said. "Don't get too carried away. You hear?"

"Don't worry, you Bots won't be knocked out of the world-saving business any time soon." Annie smiled. Then she realized something. "Hey, where's Gina?"

She got her answer as a loud screech was heard and they turned to the front gates of the base to see Gina's white Talos dragging the one-legged torso of the Circuit Breaker mech behind her. Sara followed it, dragging what was left of the arm behind her with her stoic expression. The Autobots stared at the pair until they reached the group, stopping before them with their prize.

"So," Gina grinned. "Where do we mount this bad boy?"

XXXXXXXXX

At the secret OZ base, deep within the confines of their facility, Aries and Aquarius were lamenting over their rather humiliating loss. Aries was sitting on a chair watching Aquarius pace around in front of him like an angry tiger on the prowl.

"Well that was a fine mess." Aries said calmly. Aquarius glared at him.

"A fine mess?" She sneered. "That's all you can say?! That was a disaster! All that work and we get beaten by a bunch of kids in fancy mechs! We can't even make more of those weapons because the Autobots would have made a counter-measure by then!"

"Calm down, getting worked up about it won't solve anything." Aries said. "Besides, we still have the arm of the Autobot Jazz. Any spoils of war we gain is worth the loss. You can't win them all."

Aquarius sniffed and turned away from him. She looked through the shaded window at the person lying in the bed. It was a woman, covered in bandages and hooked up to life support. From what little skin that was uncovered, there were pink burns that crisscrossed her flesh, and there was a certainty that she had little to no hair left. All in all, Josie Beller was out of commission.

"How is the patient?" Aries asked.

"Her entire body's paralyzed from the shock she got. She has second degree burns all over her body, she can't speak and she's in a coma." Aquarius answered. "She's not getting up for rehab any time soon."

"Good," Aries said darkly. He had told her not to underestimate her enemies-lest of all the Autobots. Cocky warriors always suffered humiliating defeats at the hands of the least likely of enemies.

Unknown to the generals, however, Beller's mind was still aware of the world around her. She could not speak, not could she move, but her mind was abuzz with thoughts and memories. She was crippled beyond even OZ's medical miracles, and the Autobots were to blame. Those accursed machines had ruined her life, and she was going to make them pay, even if she had to sell her soul to do it. But it wasn't just their fault-it was that girl. The blonde girl who destroyed her weapon. Who humiliated her and destroyed her career, her dreams. Josie Beller vowed on her life, that Gina Harkins will be the first to die by her hand.


	27. Assassination Duet

Chapter 27-Assassination Duet

Penny Pincer was a girl who was driven by ambition. Born into a wealthy family who made their fortune on the growing business of Talos production, Penny had made sure not to get caught up in the same greed and arrogance that plagued those spoiled brats she grew up with living in Washington. Those girls were dead set on spending their entire lives living off their parents' money, dependent on other people to live their lives for them, content with doing nothing until their dying days.

But Penny was not like that. She had a brain, she was smart, and she knew how to use it. While other kids spent their weekends watching cartoons and doing generally nothing, she was in her workshop trying to make her first robot dog. It was a failure obviously, but it sparked a love for robotics that she took with her into her preteens. Looking back on it now, Penny realized that she had also been possessed by the same arrogance that so many other kids in her class suffered from-an arrogance born from being smarter and more active than other kids. Perhaps that was why getting matched by her eternal rival, Gina Harkins, stung more than it should.

From then on, when they first clashed at that science expo in Washington, Penny and Gina had always been at each other's throats, generally hostile towards one another, and trying to one up each other whenever they got the chance. Penny knew that she had a better house, better equipment, and more money than Gina, but she was envious of the blond for more mundane reasons-she had friends. That trigger happy nut job Annie, and her rather handsome if not a bit plain brother Darren. Penny wished she had friends like that-not potential boyfriend material like Kevin, though she wasn't complaining when she was around him. But it'd be nice to have her own posse, one that was unique to herself, with people she could commune with on her free time.

'Is it because Gina's more developed than me?' Penny thought. 'Yeah, that has to be it! That dumb blonde isn't even fourteen yet and already she's rocking a pair that attracts all the boys. Of course Mother Nature lends a helping hand to the blonde from the boonies instead of the sista from DC.'

Penny thought these outrageous ideas as she sat near the lake in the center of Tranquility, across from a factory and was working on her own little drone-an upgraded version of her dog bot that she had for nearly ten years. It's first incarnation was little more than a puppy that ran on AAA batteries and moved in a linear fashion. But now that her knowledge had substantially grown, her D.O.G drone (don't ask her what the acronym meant, she just felt it was cooler) now looked like a large great dane with a black screen where its eyes would be.

The reason for her ire against Gina was because the blonde had supposedly "stole" her only friend in this town-Kevin. Penny had noticed how the fire breathing esper had been spending more and more time with the trio instead of with her. Sure, he made time for her-he was nice like that, not wanting her to feel like he was dumping her-but lately it seemed that he was hiding something else from her. When this trend started after he came home from his forest excursion, she thought that Gina had worked her nerdy feminine wiles on the boy and ensared him in her little web of lies, but now Penny figured that there was something else he was keeping from her-a secret that involved not just Gina, but also Annie and Darren.

'I don't know what the hell that little witch did to snag him, but I intend to find out.' Penny vowed. 'This I swear, or my name isn't- '

"Penny!"

"Wah!" Penny cried out and fell off her perch on the broken down car she was sitting on. D.O.G jumped after its master, barking a dull mechanical bark that before hopping off the car's hood and running to Kevin.

"Are you alright?" Kevin asked over D.O.G's barking.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine. What makes you ask that?" Penny said, trying to save face.

"You've been staring into space for nearly five minutes." Kevin said, smiling as Penny blushed in embarrassment. "I've been trying to call you for a few minutes now."

"Oh." Nice going, Penny, you've made yourself look like a fool in front of the one boy who's not a total spaz. "Well, I was bored! You took too long getting here."

"Sorry. Something had come up and I had to take care of it." He said. He cursed himself for making that rather drab explanation too vague to be brushed off by Penny, and saw the little narrowing of her eyes that Penny always did whenever she noticed something that didn't add up.

"What exactly were you doing that was so important?" Penny asked. Her tone was nothing short of the 'you better tell me or I'm making you sleep on the couch on our next sleepover' tone.

"Just helping a friend find something she lost." He answered.

In truth, Kevin was helping Tracer try to locate D-Va in Europa with Arcee and Jetfire. The femme was still missing her best friend, and was probably the only one among the Minicon population in the Ark aside from Sparkplug who didn't condemn D-Va as a traitor and marked her for shoot on sight. D-Va was Tracer's best friend, and she wanted to know that she was safe and in one piece, especially after the latest battle against OZ. No one was safe from them on this planet-not Autobot, Decepticon or Minicon.

As expected, they found no sign of her, and the fact that D-Va was so good at covering her tracks and making sure that no one spotted her, there was a chance that the pink femme had even changed her color to better blend into wherever she was. It hurt Kevin to see the normally cheerful Minicon sad all the time, but there was little else he could do. And that was before he realized that he was shrugging off Penny more than usual to have more time to help Tracer. And Penny was not a girl who took being snubbed sitting down.

"What kind of friend?" Penny inquired further. "She wouldn't have blonde hair, blue eyes and a rack that not girl her age should have, right?"

"Wha-Penny, don't start." Kevin sighed.

"No, don't shrug me off, Kevin! You've been spending more time with my archnemesis than me for nearly a month now and it's starting to get on my nerves." She said and walked up to him. "What the hell happened to our practice sessions together? You barely some to those either, and in case you've forgotten, that's a required class!"

By that she meant the little private sessions they would carve out to help Kevin train his pyrokinesis better. Penny would help him practice in secluded places like the lake or even a junkyard, helping him learn how to control his flames so that they didn't hurt people or put out the fires that he caused. It was the only reason that he was still able to function in society without setting everything he touched on fire. It was there little bonding moment, and Penny felt a little hurt that he was ignoring those to.

"I know, Penny, and I'm sorry. But I've gotten better, see?" Kevin lit his arm on fire and made the flames dance around them without touching anything.

"Wow." Penny breathed as Kevin shaped the flames into a dragon's head and made it snap at her. She squeaked and jumped back into his chest. "Hey!"

"Sorry." He chuckled.

Penny turned around and blushed as she noticed their closeness. Green eyes met gold for a moment, and both kids felt something spark between them before Penny lightly pushed herself away. Seeing Penny look like this-not the headstrong and cocky inventor but just as a girl who had little to no friends, made Kevin feel worse than he already was about not telling her all the things he had seen and done.

"I'm sorry if it feels like I'm ignoring you, Penny." Kevin apologized. It was so earnest that any witty remark she had on hand died before it left her lips. "It's just that…there are a lot of things going on, and it makes me a little busy."

"But what's so crazy that you can't even find the time for us? That you have to hang out with Gina's group every time I'm too busy or when you have the chance?" Penny said. "You've never given them the time of day before that camping trip. Did something happen?" Then her voice turned threatening. "Did Gina confess to you?"

"W-what? No! She didn't do that, Penny." Kevin gaped.

"Then it's Annie then. I knew that little floozy was hunting you down!" Penny cursed under her breath. "I knew those rumors of her being bi were bull. How long has this been going on?"

'Wait, Annie's bisexual?' Kevin thought, then shook his head. "Penny, there's nothing going on between us. I swear on my father's life."

Penny knew that when Kevin did that, he was serious. His father was a fighter pilot turned performer and died in an accident during an air show-in full view of Kevin. She knew he idolized his father, and strived to be a pilot just like him-powers or not. Hearing him say that calmed her down a bit, but she was still sore about him keeping secrets.

"Then can you at least tell me what's going on? Just a hint? Anything?" She asked.

Kevin struggled with her pleas. He didn't like keeping something like this from her, she worried enough about him suddenly lighting up in the middle of class on a hot day, but this was not something she was ready for. The giant alien robots, the life and death missions, the constant threat of being kidnapped by a Decepticon or rogue human organization. Kevin didn't want to involve her in all that, as he figured that it was not something she was ready for. Even Melody kept the Autobots at a distance these days, and she entrusted them with the safety of her twin siblings. There was real danger involved, and Penny, being the girl she was, was not ready for this.

"I'm sorry," He said. "But it's nothing important. Really."

"I see," Penny said, her voice hard. "Then I guess you think our friendship is nothing important either."

"What? No, Penny," Kevin reached for her, but she turned away and marched towards her bike. She whistled for D.O.G for follow her, and she gave him one last glare before riding away. There, the boy was left alone near the riverside, and for the first time since he met them-Kevin cursed the Autobots for his misfortune.

XXXXXXX

A small pink and red ATV with a radio dish on its hood sat close by in an alley not too far from the two children. It recorded the conversation, hearing every word that was spoken between Kevin and Penny. This was the Mini-Con Search, former partner of the late Lugnut and currently a free agent.

Search didn't like recon duty, even though his alt mode was perfect for the job, but he was willing to go the extra mile to get back at the kid who bumped off Lugnut. Sure, the big guy wasn't all that bright, and he was annoying as hell, but Search grew to like him a bit. He provided the action that he craved when not stuffed in the lockers aboard the Nemesis. Those kids had caused him a lot of slag after killing Lugnut, without a partner, he couldn't get any free time unless he was partnered with a Decepticon, and unfortunately due to his skills at recon he was stuck with Barricade of all bots. No action, only rolling around like a remote control human toy. He was going to get those little brats back for ruining his fun!

" _Search, what's your status?"_ Barricade asked over their comm-channel.

"I'm at the river right now," Search answered. "And I've got a read on some brats who might be related to the Autobots' pets."

" _Good. Keep an eye on them a little longer."_ Barricade instructed. _"We'll wait until they meet up with the other humans, when the time is right."_

"Great. About damn time we started taking action." Search grumbled. He signed off and went back to watching the dark skinned human mope about his angry girlfriend. He had to sympathize with the human on this one-femmes were a handful, no matter what race they came from.

XXXXXXXX

Shouts and grunts were heard within the large interior of the Ark's sparring room. In the designated area for the ship's smaller occupants, Kevin and Tracer were dueling in one of their daily training routines, having mock fights to better prepare themselves for any surprises that came their way. It was a bonding moment for them, especially after D-Va defected and left Tracer all alone to bear her best friend's absence without anyone to talk to. Fighting her helped Kevin gain control over his unpredictable power over fire, but today, Tracer noticed that he was a bit off his game today.

"Ha!" Kevin released a huge wave of flame at Tracer, spreading them over a wide area to enclose upon her.

Tracer skillfully warped out of the flame's touch, using her power to stop time for a few seconds to jump away before warping back into real time. She uncoiled her whips, unelectrified of course, and lashed them at the boy. Kevin ducked under the first one and shot a fireball at her, but he missed the second whip wrapping around his ankle. He noticed it too late and found himself spinning like a pinwheel in the air before landing hard on his back.

"Oh, come on!" Kevin grunted and flipped onto his feet again, only to fall back to avoid a jab from Tracer. He channeled flames up his throat and belched them at the Minicon, who jumped back.

Kevin smirked and ran forward, still shooting fire from his mouth like a dragon to force Tracer to keep her distance. But Tracer, ever the innovator in the middle of a battle, used her power to sidestep Kevin's short range attack and spin around till she was at his left side. Kevin noticed the switch too late and he had no time to block the jab she sent at his leg, bringing him to one knee. Tracer pushed him down and straddled him, using her weight (she was really heavy) to pin him to the mat.

"That's game." Tracer chirped. "That was too easy, Kevin!"

"I can see that," He wheezed under her heavy form. "Get off me, please!"

"Huh? Oh, right! Sorry." Tracer hopped off Kevin and he rolled over panting. "Oh, relax. I'm not that heavy."

"You're made of metal, of course you are." He said.

Tracer waited for Kevin to regain his breath before she talked to him. "So, what's wrong?"

"Hmm?" He looked up at her. "What do you mean?"

"What's wrong?" She asked again. "You weren't all that focused today, and I know something's bothering you. You can tell me, love."

Kevin looked a bit conflicted, before he gave a resigned sigh and sat up on the floor. "It's Penny. She's a friend of mine, and we've had what I think is our first real fight today."

Tracer nodded, she heard about Penny from their previous conversations. "She's your best friend, yes? Why was she angry at you?"

"Because of all this," Kevin motioned to her and the large room around them, indicating the Ark. "She's been getting suspicious about me. She's seen me hanging out with Darren's group and she's starting to ask questions. Questions that I can't answer without revealing you guys."

"Does she really think that you're hiding something?" Tracer asked. "I mean, she couldn't possibly be that attentive."

"Penny didn't get to where she is now by ignoring glaring facts like that. She knows that I'm involved with something and that it involves the others as well." Kevin ran a hand through his dreads. "I don't know what to do, Tracer. Penny is my best friend, my only real friend before meeting Darren. She's the reason I'm even good at controlling my powers, and we've never kept any serious secrets from each other."

Tracer saw the fond look he wore as he spoke of Penny. "You really care for what she thinks?"

"Penny isn't a bad person, despite what Gina may say. She's just really dedicated to her work." He said. "She's helped me since we were kids, when I developed my powers after my dad died. I was so scared, and I nearly set everything I touched on fire, but Penny kept me grounded, told me to control my flames and to not let it control me. We've always shared things with each other, so having her mad at me for keeping a secret that could mean life or death is not fun at all."

Tracer hummed and sat next to Kevin. They both sat in the middle of the room in silence for several minutes, before a bright smile spread on Tracer's fac.

"Why don't you tell her?" She suggested. Kevin gave her a confused look.

"Huh?"

"Penny, why don't you tell her all about the war and us?" She continued. "I'll be there to help you."

"Whoa, that's not an option. The Autobots trust me and the others to keep their existance a secret, not blab it out to anyone we want." Kevin said. "What happened with Melody was just bad luck, this is deliberately going against the trust they've given us."

"Yeah, but you're about to lose your only friend. I'm not saying we'll show her the Ark or anything, but I think that she should at least know about the Minicons." Tracer went on. "Besides, I don't like seeing you sad. You deserve some leeway after everything you've did for the team."

Kevin didn't say anything, but it was clear that he still didn't like the idea. People who got involved with the Autobot/Decepticon war will never get the chance to be normal again. They'll have to spend their whole lives worrying either about the Autobots getting hurt, or getting jumped by Decepticons. Not to mention that all the fighting was changing Darren, Annie and Gina to. They didn't look like kids anymore, rather they looked like soldiers who had seen and done things that wore them down heavily. The same look he would catch in the Autobots' eyes. It's a dangerous burden to bear, and Kevin was not willing to drag Penny into this.

Tracer put a hand on Kevin's shoulder to get his attention. "Kevin, I know you're worried for her, but I think she can keep a secret. You trust her, don't you?"

"Definitely."

"Then you should trust her to accept the truth and cooperate with us." She said. "I'll be there with you to prove everything, and maybe we can bring High Wire's group into this when things settle down. But sooner or later, she might find out on her own."

"And it'll be better to bring her in on the secret on our terms." Kevin finished. He frowned a bit before breathing another sigh. "Can I think on this?"

"Sure, love. Go ahead. I'm not forcing you."

"Thanks." Kevin said as he got his stuff and left the room, with more things on his mind than when he got there.

XXXXXXXX

The next day was a blur for Kevin as he tried to figure out his next course of action. He spent his school day as he normally would, spending time with his basketball team, working on that science test he forgot to study for (it was dumb luck that it was another test on the intensities of colored flames) and hanging out with Darren's circle of friends. He tried to talk to Penny, but she snubbed him harshly, avoiding him at every turn and not looking at him in class. It was harsh but he expected nothing less from a girl who could hold a serious grudge like Penny.

'I can't keep going on like this.' Kevin thought morosely.

He didn't want to lose his friend, but he also didn't want to blurt the truth about the Autobots out. He trusted Penny, but she was a prideful girl who would no doubt brag about being the first to meet aliens after learning the truth. It didn't seem all that bad, but after getting caught up in that government group that Soundwave raided, he wanted to be more cautious.

'But, maybe I'm just not giving her the benefit of a doubt.' He figured. 'Penny may be a handful, but she'll listen to me if I press the issue. We're best friends after all. I just need to make sure that the Autobots don't know about this.'

After planning the scenario out in his head, Kevin waited for his class to be over before running out of the room and down the hall to where Darren and Annie's lockers were. He ran into the twins, nearly bowling Annie over.

"Damn, Kev, what's the rush?" She asked.

"Sorry. I just need to talk to Grindor." Kevin said.

The twins looked at him strangely. "Um, like right now?" Darren asked.

"Yes, please." Kevin replied, pleading with them to trust him on this.

Annie gave him a look before reaching into her locker and pulling out the skateboard-disguised Minicon and handing him to Kevin. "Fine, but don't chat where anyone can hear you. And make it quick."

"I will, don't worry!" Kevin grinned and ran back down the hall. "And thanks!"

Darren watched Kevin go with a frown. "What was that all about?"

"I don't know." Annie shrugged and slammed her locker closed. "You're the one who attracts the weird people."

"I do not!"

"You totally do."

Meanwhile, Kevin ran into a broom closet that was rarely used by anyone at this time of day. Making sure that no one was close by, he shut the door and looked at Grindor.

"Grindor, I need to speak to you." Kevin whispered. "Like, now."

"I can see that," Grindor whispered back. "But couldn't you have waited to do this after school?"

"No, I'm sorry, but this is kinda urgent." He said. "Could you call Tracer for me?"

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Call her on your comm-link for me." Kevin repeated.

Grindor spun his wheels, forcing Kevin to release him and fell to the ground, transforming to robot mode. He glared at the boy with his round, bulk-like yellow optics that glowed a bit menacingly in the dim light of the closet.

"Did you seriously snag me in the middle of a nap just so you could wire a phone call?" Grindor hissed. "What the hell dude?"

"Grindor please, just work with me here. It won't take long, I promise."

"Kevin, we're in the middle of a public school surrounded by people who could walk in on us at any moment. This is not the time for this!"

"The longer we argue, the more likely that's going to happen." Kevin pointed out.

Grindor glared at him before sighing and pressing two fingers to the side of his head, switching on his comm. "Fine. What do you want to tell her?"

Kevin told Grindor his message-for Tracer to meet him at the riverside junkyard where he and Penny talked the day before. He added for her to come in vehicle mode, and told Grindor that he said he was going with her plan. Grindor did so, and after a few minutes, he said that Tracer was going to be at the junkyard.

"What is this all about anyway? You get into trouble or something?" Grindor asked.

"Nope, I don't think I'm in trouble anymore." Kevin said smiling. "Now let's get you back to Annie before she starts hunting me down for you."

XXXXXXXX

Penny sighed as she left her classroom and made a straight path towards the doors. She felt emotionally exhausted today and seeing Kevin nearly everywhere she goes didn't help her growing headache either. She pushed past the doors and went for her bike, but was stopped by two boys.

"That's a fancy lookin' bike you got there." A snarky, nasally voice said. "Looks expensive. Did daddy get that for you?"

"Don't even start with me, Billy. I'm not in the mood." Penny growled. She turned around to see the two boys who were the typical bullies of the school. A tall, lanky boy standing next to a short, chubby boy who was obviously the underdog of the two.

"Aww, what's the matter? Daddy cut off your allowance again?" Billy, the tall one, taunted and cackled. "Is that why you're taking your bike instead of getting a ride in your limo?"

"Yeah, you think you're better than us because you don't take the bus like normal people?" Fred said. He carried a bag of chips that looked like it was ripped open by a pack of wolves.

"No, I'm already better than you whether I take the bus or not." Penny replied. Her comeback made Billy lose his good attitude.

"You better take good care of that ride of yours." Billy warned. Next to him, Fred was pulling on his shirt, looking behind him.

"Uh, Billy?" Fred whined. Billy ignored him and continued to taunt Penny.

"Not now doofus." He growled. Turning his attention back to Penny he said, "You better watch you ride very closely. Wouldn't want anything bad to happen to it, right?"

"Like what, Billy?"

Billy froze and slowly turned around. Behind him was Kevin, looming over him like an intimidating bodyguard, arms crossed and eyes narrowed. Next to him, Fred was cowering like a lost child, praying that he wasn't going to get tossed around like last time.

"What were you going to say, Billy? What might happen to her bike?" Kevin asked calmly, though he didn't hide the menacing undertone in his voice.

"Uh…I was just warning her to…chain her bike properly. Yeah! You never know who might snatch up her bike!" Billy laughed nervously. Sweat fell down his face in rivers under Kevin's gaze.

"Yeah, you're right. You never know what might happen these days." Kevin said as he took the bag from Fred's trembling hands. "One minute you're just minding your own business, and the next-wham!"

He tore the bag in two, not taking his eyes off Billy. "Someone comes along and ruins your whole day."

Billy got the message and speed run past Kevin, dragging Fred by the collar into the parking lot. Once they were out of earshot, Billy began tearing into Fred for not warning him that Kevin was standing behind him. Fred replied that he tried but Billy ignored him. They argued furiously until they were well out of sight, leaving Kevin and Penny alone.

Kevin shook his head at the two boys. They never learn, if it wasn't Darren, then it was Gina. And after Annie promptly beat them black and blue, they began to harp on Penny because she was wealthy. He looked back at Penny, who glanced back at him before she huffed and got on her bike. Kevin sprinted forward and grabbed her bike before she could ride off.

"Let go, Kevin." Penny said.

"Wait, just hear me out." Kevin said, but she wasn't having it.

"I have nothing to say to you." She frowned. "You like keeping secrets. Fine, have fun keeping secrets with Gina."

She tried to pedal, but couldn't get out of Kevin's grip. He looked her in the eye with such intensity that she blushed and averted her gaze.

"Penny, I know that you're mad at me. And I understand why. You think I'm betraying your trust, abandoning you for other people. I get that," He said. "But I'm not doing that. There is a reason why I'm keeping secrets like this. Why I'm hanging out Darren and the others. It's not just because they're my friends, it's also because I'm involved with something dangerous."

That drew her gaze back to him. "W-what? What do you mean dangerous?" She asked. "What did you get yourself into?"

He gave her a calming smile. "Let me show you. Please?"

Penny looked at him cautiously and nodded. Kevin led her out of the parking lot and down two blocks before leading her into an alleyway. When they were far enough from prying eyes near the street, Kevin signaled for Tracer to come out of her hiding place. Penny jumped as she saw the riderless motorcycle driven towards them.

"Kevin," Penny said, not sounding confidant at all. "What's going on?"

"Penny, before I show you this, you have to promise me that you won't freak out and scream, okay?" Kevin requested. "Seriously, it might come as a shock, but please do not scream like a little girl. Can you do that for me?"

Penny scowled and punched him in the shoulder. "Who do you think I am? I don't scream over little things like Gina!"

"Okay then," He turned to Tracer. "You can transform now."

Penny saw the fancy motorcycle begin to reconfigure and change before her eyes. Her mouth fell open as she saw the ordinary vehicle transform into a humanoid, robotic form that stood a little taller than Kevin. She stared at the little robot in shock as it-she-smiled at her and waved.

"Hello, love," Tracer greeted as gently as possible. "Name's Tracer. Nice to meet ya."

"AAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

Kevin quickly planted his hand over Penny's mouth to cover her scream of excitement that gushed forth from her inner fangirl. He glared at her as she continued to give a muffled scream behind his hand.

"Seriously? After I just told you not to scream?" He hissed. "What was all that about not acting like Gina?"

Penny pulled his hand from her mouth. "Kevin, that's a real, talking robot that just transformed from a motorcycle! How the hell can you not expect me to freak out! Look at it!"

"Tracer's not an it, and she's not a robot. She's an alien." Kevin said. Penny looked at him with a blank expression.

"Really? An alien?" She asked.

"It's true. I'm a Minicon, from the planet Cybertron," Tracer chirped. "And I come in peace."

Penny stared long and hard at Tracer before turning back to Kevin. "Explain. Now."

"Well, first we'll have to go somewhere where we can have some proper privacy, after that little ear drum shattering shriek you just gave." He grumbled. She punched his arm again.

"I don't shriek." Penny pouted.

"Any ideas on where we should go?" Tracer asked.

"I think I have a suggestion!"

The two kids and the Minicon turned to the mouth of the alley and saw the red form of Knockout driving towards them. He transformed in motion and went from driving to running, a mad grin on his face. Penny screamed in fright as Tracer pulled her and Kevin back behind her.

"What the hell is that?!" Penny shrieked.

"Trouble!" Kevin said. He ran forward and shot huge bursts of flames at Knockout, raising the heat so that the Con would back off a bit and give them some space. Tracer stood by them to usher them to safety. "We need to run, now!"

"I'll call Ratchet!" Tracer said, but before she could call for help, a large claw knocked her from behind and sent her crashing into a dumpster.

Penny screamed as she saw a police car come at them from behind and transform into a terrifying giant robot with the scariest face she had ever seen. Barricade reached down and grabbed Penny from the ground, lifting her up like she was a doll. Kevin turned to shoot some fireballs at Barricade's face, but the Con ignored the flames and grabbed Kevin, squeezing him tight to keep his arms restrained.

"Kevin, Penny!" Tracer made to attack the Con, but Knockout reamed down and pinned her to the ground with his long, sharp fingers.

"Don't even think about it, tiny." Knockout growled. He looked in a window and grimaced at his blackened face, which still stung from the flames. "Ugh, look at what that brat did to me! You're going to end up on my dissection table you little scraplet!"

"You will do no such thing!" Barricade growled. "We need the humans to enact our plan. No harm can come to them, yet."

"And what about the little orange wonder here?" Knockout asked. "She's a Minicon and could be pretty useful to us."

"Let her be the messenger," Barricade said. "She will tell the Autobots of our terms. The humans are much more useful to us." He held up the entrapped children and grinned evilly. "After all, unlike Minicons, they can't be rebuilt of they're broken."

Kevin scowled as he struggled to get free. He looked over at Penny, who was absolutely terrified but was trying not to panic. All that agonizing over bringing her into the fold and this is the first thing that happens to them. So much for giving Penny her first peaceful contact.

XXXXXXXX

"What did you say?" Optimus asked in shock. "Barricade and Knockout really did that?"

Tracer nodded sadly in response. After seeing Kevin and Penny get taken by the Cons, she had called for a ground bridge and ran straight to Optimus, telling him of the debacle. The Autobots were told of the incident, including the kids and the Minicons. Once she was finished, their reactions were what she was expecting.

"So that's what Kevin needed Grindor for," Annie said. "To have you help him in telling Penny about us?"

"Yes. Things weren't going so well for him, so we both figured that it wouldn't hurt to tell her about everything." Tracer said.

"That was a foolish move on your part, Tracer. We are robots in disguise for a reason, we can't just go around telling our existence to the natives because our friends are having relationship problems." Prowl scolded her. "This is why I didn't condone having contact with the humans. Now we have a hostage situation on our hands!"

"Which is why we should be focusing on trying to get them back instead of ripping on Tracer, or have you forgotten that lives are at stake here?" Sparkplug shouted.

"Enough Sparkplug, Prowl. We need to focus." Optimus said. He looked down at Tracer and leaned towards her. "What are their terms?"

"They want all of you to come to an abandoned town in Texas. And they mean all of you." Tracer explained. "They also want you to bring…to bring the Minicons as well. They want the Mincons in exchange for the children."

"That's out of the question." Prowl said at once. "If we give them over to the Decepticons, they'll unleash hell on us. We'll never be able to gain a foothold on this planet ever again!"

"I gotta agree with Prowl. This is way too risky." Ironhide said.

"Are you all out of your minds? There are children in danger here!" Arcee exclaimed. "Humans who we have sworn to protect."

"Yeah, we can't just leave 'em to the Cons," Jetfire said. Then he visibly deflated. "But we can't give them the Minicons either."

"We can't not do anything either." Bumblebee said. "I'm sorry, but I'm not risking anyone's lives here. I say we locate the kids then hit the Cons where it hurts."

"If we do that, then we risk Kevin and Penny coming to harm." Bulkhead said. "I'm not having that on my conscious."

"Bulkhead we are at war. Sometimes, sacrifices must be made in order to maintain the status quo." Prowl told him. Bulkhead growled and got in Prowl's face."

"You like the spout all that greater good slag, but only when it's not your ass in the line of fire. Those kids are as apart of this team as any Autobot."

"No, they're kids with no place in our war. I don't like doing this Bulkhead, but it is a choice between two human lives and the possibility the Decepticons gaining enough firepower to destroy us and take a greater amount of lives, then it's no choice at all." Prowl replied. "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."

Bulkhead looked livid. "You unemotional piece of- "

"Prowl, Bulkhead, stop this!" Optimus said firmly. "Though giving the Minicons to the Depcepticons is not in our best interests, I refuse to allow innocent human lies to be lost because of our folly. We are Autobots. Protecting all life is our main concern, and fighting Decepticons is secondary in this situation."

"But Prime," Prowl sighed, annoyed at how his comrades failed to see the bigger picture. "We can't just hand them over to the Cons without some failsafe. Otherwise Megatron will scorch this planet and- "

"STOP IT!" Sparkplug yelled as loud as he could. "JUST STOP IT RIGHT NOW!"

Sparkplug's outburst silenced the bickering Autobots, who all looked down at the yellow Minicon. Sparkplug glared up at all of them, sporting an intense glare on his face that showed just how angry he was.

"Don't talk about us like we're fragging weapons of mass destruction!" He growled. "Don't talk about us like we don't have voices of our own. This is why we left Cybertron, not just because of the Decepticons abusing our power, but also because of the Autobots who sought to lock us away to keep us out of enemy hands, like we were dangerous weapons instead of living beings. This is why we made the gestalts in the first place, to keep people like all of you from using us as bargaining chips in your god forsaken war!"

"Sparkplug," Optimus started. "You know we would never- "

"Shut up, Prime! I'm sick of getting sidelined because I'm not fighting on a side like all of you are!" Sparkplug yelled. "I did what I had to do for my people, who have been treated like slag even before the war. And I didn't risk the lives of my crew so that I could end up being handed over like a trophy case by bots who are supposed to be helping us."

"Sparkplug…" Tracer whispered in shock.

"I'm not handing over any of my Minicons, but I'm also not going to let those children, who have helped us so many times in the past, get hurt because of this chaos. No matter what, even if I have to go there myself, I'm going to do my part for the humans who helped. You all can stand here and argue until you rust. I don't care anymore."

Sparkplug about faced and marched out of the command center. The kids looked at the Autobots, who stood there speechless.

"Guys, he's right." Darren said. "We've got to think of something that will save everyone, not just one side."

"And we're going to help, whether you like it or not." Annie said.

"Sorry, guys but it's our fight now. We don't have time to talk." Gina finished for all of them.

The kids went to get their pilot suits on and plan for a course of action but Optimus stopped them. "Children, wait. You three are right. We need to act now or risk making a grave mistake. The Minicons are people to, and I am ashamed that we have forgotten that fact. To decide on a course of action without their input was nothing short of humiliating."

"But what can we do?" Jetfire asked. "We don't even know where the kids are."

"And we can't make any moves without risking their lives in the process. At least until we can locate them." Arcee pointed out.

"You can leave that to us." Gina said. "I've got that covered."

"And how do you plan on doing that?" Ironhide asked skeptically.

Darren smirked and crossed his arms. "Do you guys have a super advanced android that built three super Talos? No? Didn't think so."

"You focus on dealing with the Cons. Let us worry about Kevin and Penny." Annie promised.

Optimus nodded and looked at his team. "Autobots, we head out in the hour to meet with the Decepticons. I will speak with Sparkplug on what to do. In the meantime, remain on standby."

Optimus left the room and went to go find Sparkplug. First he needed to apologize to the Micron leader for not taking his feelings into account. The life of a Minicon is rough, both before and after the war. Then they needed to come up with a plan that didn't involve losing one or the other. But Optimus had to wonder why Megatron chose this moment to use the humans as leverage against them. He never put any thought into them until now. What changed?

Had Optimus been of a clearer mind, he would have realized that the answer was right in front of him. The kidnapping, the ransom, the Minicons, they were all a façade for the real reason that they went to this much trouble to snatch two humans in broad daylight. Maybe then he would've avoided the oncoming disaster.

XXXXXXXX

Kevin admired Penny for a number of reasons, but his admiration of her grew even more after seeing how calm she was despite being kidnapped by a murderous Decepticon. She sat next to him inside an old warehouse inside an abandoned town in the middle of some desert area. The place reminded him of an old town from those old western movies that his dad used to watch back in the day. An out of the way place, far from any habitation, and with enough space to wage open war without holding back. The only thing that kept him at ease was that there were little to no places where the Cons could hide to stage an ambush, presumably so the Autobots wouldn't try to do the same.

The warehouse they were imprisoned in was guarded by the Mini-Cons led by Leader-1. The Decepticons, for some reason, were all assembled outside the town, which puzzled Kevin because he thought that they would have split their numbers to at least keep a closer eye on them. Megatron was nowhere to be seen and that was a godsend. Kevin had never seen Megatron, but from the horror stories that the others told about the warlord, he was glad that he didn't get the chance.

"So," Kevin said with a whistle. "How's your day?"

Penny stifled a chuckle. "Don't even bother Kevin. I know we're in deep trouble."

"Yeah, we are." Kevin sighed.

Penny looked outside at the Decepticons assembled not too far from the town. "So those scary looking robots are the evil Decepticons you were warning me about?"

"Yup." He nodded. During their incarceration, Kevin had used the quiet moment to properly explain the situation to Penny. He went into detail about the war, the stranded Cybertronians, even OZ and the Brigadoon incident that gave the children their Talos. All in all, it was so much for Penny to understand, but she quickly adapted to the situation like she always does. Seeing the Decepticons first hand helped also.

"I can't believe you managed to hide all of this from me. And with Gina of all people!" She huffed. "Damn it, now she has bragging rights to first contact."

"We're being held hostage, and the first thing you're mad about is that Gina got the jump on you?" Kevin smiled and shook his head. "You're too much, Penny."

"Well, my dad always said that you were the only one crazy enough to brave through the hurricane that is me." Penny chuckled, then she frowned. "Kevin, I'm sorry about before. I probably should've realized that you were trying to keep me safe. This is definitely not something for the faint of heart."

"I'm sorry that you felt insulted and left out. I didn't realize I was snubbing you like that." Kevin apologized. "We've been through thick and thin together, long before we met Darren, Annie and Gina. I wasn't going to just leave all that behind."

"I know that now. But you know me, wildfire Penny is a bitch to handle even on a sunny day." She sighed. Penny groaned and leaned her head onto Kevin's shoulder. She lamented her unfavorable situation, but at least she was stuck with Kevin, so it wasn't a total loss. "Do you think we'll get out of this in one piece?"

"Of course we will." Kevin reassured her. "The Autobots will not let anyone down like that, especially one of their own. This I can promise you."

"Well then, I'll hold you to that." Penny replied and closed her eyes. It was going to be a long day.

XXXXXXXX

Nightshade waited impatiently for the Autobots to arrive. It had been an hour since they started this rather sketchy operation and she could already feel her patience running thin. Scowling, she turned to Knockout, who was trying not to sweat under her imposing gaze.

"Knockout, I thought you said that they would be here within the hour." She said.

"They will, my lady. They're probably still trying to gather the Minicons, no need to be impatient." Knockout said nervously. Nightshade glared at him and he stepped back. "On second thought, feel free to express yourself. It keeps the stress down."

Nightshade was about to tear into him when Flamewar tapped her shoulder. "What is it?"

"I can feel Arcee nearby." Flamewar said grinning. "And if she's here, then the other Bots aren't too far behind."

"Great! Places everyone, it's almost show time." Knockout grinned.

A ground bridge appeared and the Autobots all drove out in a group. They stopped before the Decepticons on the edge of the town, and transformed to their robot modes. Everyone was in attendance, even Ratchet. And at their feet were the Minicons, who were glaring up at the Cons. Nightshade smiled and walked forward.

"Very good, Knockout, you actually shot straight for once." She said and looked at Optimus. "And you never fail to live up to our expectations Prime. Now hand over the Minicons."

"Give us the kids first." Bumblebee demanded.

"That's not how it works, scout. Hand them over before I get trigger happy." Blackout growled.

"You can try, whiteout." Bulkhead replied, bringing out his wrecking balls.

"Need I remind you that if you even think about trying to play us, those kids are ending up on Scalpel's dissection table." Nightshade told Optimus. "Have you lackies stand down and hand over the Minicons. I think they're long overdue for a reunion, don't you think?"

Optimus looked at his team, who forced themselves to lower their weapons. He then looked over at Sparkplug, who was sitting on his shoulder. Sparkplug glanced over at Optimus and nodded to his unspoken question, showing that he was ready. Optimus vented air from his openings, but he had one more trick up his sleeve.

"Where is Megatron, Nightshade?" He asked. He would've thought the warlord would be here himself to gloat at them.

"He's preoccupied. Contrary to what you might think, he has other things to do than play war with you Prime." Nightshade said harshly.

Optimus narrowed his eyes. Megatron wouldn't just up and blow this off like it was some unimportant excursion. This was a hostage situation that played to his favor, there was no way anything else could be more important. Something wasn't right here.

In the warehouse, Penny whistled as she saw the exchange between the two factions of aliens engaged in a little standoff. "I'm guessing those are the good guys?"

"Yeah, that's Optimus Prime and the Autobots." Kevin said. "And it looks like they brought the Minicnos along as well. But what for?"

"To get you humans back of course." Leader-1 walked out from his place in the shadows, flanked by Rumble and Frenzy. "Why else would he drag those anti-war rejects out here into this dust bowl."

"Optimus would never do that! He wouldn't risk the Minicons' lives like that!" Kevin growled, steam blowing from his nose.

"He would if your lives were threatened. If there's one weakness that the great Optimus Prime has, it's that he has a bleeding Spark for everything that breathes." Leader-1 replied. "For all the powers you espers have, you're no different than regular humans. To think that there's a civil conflict going on because of people like you. Pathetic."

Penny glared at the Mini-Con and moved closer to Kevin. "Think you can take him?"

"Maybe, but not all three of them at once. Rumble would snap me in two and Frenzy sounds like Annie on a bad day."

"Don't even think about it." Leader1 leveled a gun on them. "One move and one of you will be less a limb. And unlike your Autobot masters, you can't get patched up by the medic."

"How about we have Brahe snap their bones?" Rumble grinned. "Megatron never said we couldn't do that."

"Yeah! I want to smash something!" Brahe yelled and beat his chest with his large fists.

"No, you idiots. If we break them now, then the whole operation is bust and we'll have the Autobots on our heads!" Leader-1 sneered, slightly astonished that these bafoons were bonded to Soundwave. "Now try to show some restraint for one you morons."

Kevin and Penny had no options open to them. They were outnumbered and outgunned, with no one privy to their location. Penny wasn't religious, but she hoped that the forces above could do her a solid and send help in some form.

And that help came in the form of a green haired android dropping through the ceiling and crashing in front of Leader-1. Sara shot up and punched Leader-1 in the stomach, rumbling his internal circuitry and sending him flying into a support column. She then stood up and looked at Kevin and Penny.

"Are you two functional?" Sara asked.

"Y-yes Sara we're doing fine, thanks." Kevin said. His eyes widened. "Look out!"

Sara expertly dodged a hammer strike from Rumble and fell to the ground, kicking his knee so hard it bent backwards at an angle that was completely unnatural. Rumble screamed in pain, and was open to Sara's strong uppercut that sent him flying back. Frenzy flanked her and released his powerful sonic scream that blasted everything in his path-save Sara herself. She ran at speeds he was too slow to follow, and he wasn't able to land a hit on her, but she was fast enough to get in close without getting hit by the sonic wave.

Sara grabbed his right arm and spun her body so that it twisted like a roll of taffy. Frenzy tried to break free, but Sara increased the strength in her grip and broke the limb, twisting as hard as she could until his arm was hanging onto his body by only a few cables that haven't snapped off yet. She jumped on him and buried her spiked knuckles into his face, causing energon to gush from his mouth and nose before kicking him to the ground. Kevin and Penny made to run for her, but Kevin stopped short as a laser hit the ground at his feet.

"Stop right there!" Leader-1 growled. He walked gingerly over to Brahe, who was gearing up for a pinball maneuver. "I warned you what would happen if you brats tried anything, and now you're going to pay for it! Brahe!"

"I'm gonna tear you apart fleshy!" Brahe grunted.

Before he could follow through on his promise, a large, black Talos came crashing through the roof and hit the ground with a thud. Annie slammed her unit's fist into Brahe, not bothering to hold back. Brahe, who only escaped total systems failure due to his reinforced structure, was sent crashing through the rotten wood of the warehouse and into the street outside. The Prometheus and Athen both crashed through the front of the warehouse and pointed their weapons at Leader-1.

"Don't try anything, Leader-1. These beam rifles don't exactly feel all that pleasant." Gina said.

"Gina?" Penny gaped.

"Hey Penny," Gina chirped. In the cockpit, the blonde was grinning like a lunatic at the awestruck expression on her rival's face. "How'd like my new ride?"

Penny stared at the Talos for a minute before glaring at Kevin, who grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, I'll explain later."

"You better." She grumbled.

"As amusing as this comedy routine is," Darren said. "We should get out while we still can. Annie, did you send Optimus the signal?"

As soon as he asked that, there were explosions that were heard not too far from their position. Annie grinned at her brother through the monitor. "That answer your question?"

"What's going on?" Kevin asked.

"We're duping the Cons on two fronts. The Autobots take care of the Cons with the Minicons, while we rush in here and rescue you two." Gina said. "It's a win-win situation provided nothing goes wrong."

Leader-1 began to laugh, drawing the kids' attention. Annie pointed her beam rifle at the Minicon. "What the hell are you laughing about?"

"Your stupidity," Leader-1 wheezed. "Did you really think that you fooled us? No, we pulled one over on you instead!"

"Getting fooled must mean something entirely different on Cybertron, because we're the ones with the upper hand here." Darren said. "You didn't get the Minicons, and we got our friends back."

"It was never completely about the Minicons you morons." Leader-1 sneered. He looked up at Darren's Talos as he said his next piece. "Did you think we were going to let Lugnut's death go unpunished, boy? Megatron never lets the death of one of his finest warriors go without dealing the insult back in equal measure. Why do you think we asked only for the Autobots to come alone?"

Darren felt a pit form in his stomach at the revelation and turned towards Sara. "Sara, scan the area now!"

"What's wrong?" Kevin asked.

"You two need to get out of here now! It's too dangerous!" Darren yelled.

Sara ran a grid scan over the area, letting her sensors wash over the pile of junk in front of her. When she processed the information, her expression turned into one of surprise, a first for the until then unemotional android. She leapt back from Leader-1 and took hold of Kevin and Penny.

"We must go, now!" She exclaimed.

But it was too late. The pile of junk and scraps exploded as a silver tank rolled forth. The children stared in shock as the tank transformed into a towering silver giant with a large fusion cannon on his arm. Megatron stood to his full height above the three Talos, grinning as he glared at his adversaries.

"Time for my retribution." Megatron sneered.

XXXXXXXXX

The plan was a simple divide and conquer strategy. Optimus and Sparkplug had concocted a plan that would save both parties the agony of loss. The Autobots, who were required to go to the meeting point with the Minicons, would focus on stalling the Decepticons for as long as possible, while the kids, piloting their Talos along with Sara, located Kevin and Penny via the watch that had the special locator beacon, an upgraded one similar to the watch High Wire gave to Darren. Once the kids sent the signal, the Autobots were to raise hell as long as possible until they secured the hostages and fell back to the rendezvous point.

The first part, locating Kevin and Penny, was completed. Now came phase 2-raise some hell.

"Optimus, we've got the signal!" Sparkplug yelled.

Optimus wasted no time in mobilizing their part of the plan. "Autobots, powerlink and attack!"

Sparkplug linked up with Optimus, connecting to his arm to bring out his heated battle blade. Road Storm linked with Jazz's arm to shift it into his signature cryo-emitter. Peppercat powerlinked with Arcee, forming a semi-gauntlet around the pink Autobot's right arm that crackled with electricity. Longarm powerlinked with Ratchet and brought out an extended, more lethal version of his laser scalpel. Prowl linked with Tracer to deploy his set of five pointed throwing stars. Bumblebee linked with Jolt to summon his solar agitator blaster, and Jetfire linked with Comettor, merging onto his right wing to give the flyer a power surge. Bulkhead, Ironhide and Wheeljack teamed up with the newly merged Centurion and his gestalt blade, the omni-saber.

"Decepticons, right the enemy!" Nightshade ordered, sending her Decepticons into action.

Autobots and Decepticons charged at each other, firing their weapons and meeting midway to clash in close combat. Arcee and Flamewar both ran at each other, with the latter bringing out her arm blades and flipping at her sister. Arcee ducked under the sharp blades and punched Flamewar in the abdomen, sending a harsh jolt through her body that sent her skidding back through the dirt.

"I see you got a new partner." Flamewar sneered. "What happened? Got tired of your little boy toy?"

"No, he just got an upgrade. Maybe if we get the chance, I'll show it to you!" Arcee ran at her sister and threw another electric punch at Flamewar, only for the huntress to back flip away from her and fire armor-piercing rounds from the gun in her arm. A bullet caught Arcee in the shoulder, knocking off some pieces of her armor, but she didn't stop and engaged her sister once more.

Starscream saw the sibling squabble and pointed his null ray at Arcee. He couldn't care less about Flamewar's little spat with her sister, if anything, he was going to enjoy taking her kill from her. It was nothing less she deserved for trying to bail out on the Cons back on Cybertron.

"No you don't!" Jazz jumped into the fray, kicking Starscream's arm aside just as he fired. The null beam that he fired shot through the air, and almost hit Knockout, who was fighting, and losing, to Ratchet of all people, in the hit. The Con's medic ducked just in time and glared back at Starscream.

"What the hell, Starscream?!" Knockout exclaimed.

"Sorry, my aim slipped." Starscream apologized, but his expression showed that he wasn't sorry.

"Watch where you're shooting that thing or-whoa!" Knockout stumbled back to avoid getting gored by Ratchet's long scalpel, which cut a deep gouge into the ground where his attack hit. "Watch the finish!"

"Please, any damage I do will be an improvement." Ratchet said.

Meanwhile, Starscream was fighting Jazz, but he couldn't get a handle on the spry Autobot's movement. Jazz's style of hit and run was effective against a Seeker like Starscream, who wasn't all that good fighting on the ground. Jazz dodged Starscream's cobalt bayonet with ease and dealt quick but painful kicks to Starscream's face, sending energon gushing from his faceplate. One well place kicked spun him around and brought him to his knees.

"Seekers, I need assistance now!" Starscream shouted.

Jazz saw Thundercrakcer and Skywarp running towards him. Thundercarcker got to him first and began slashing and stabbing at Jazz with his own bayonet, showing some skill with a blade as he kept Jazz light on his feet. As they were engaged in their little swordplay, Skywarp teleported from sight to flank Jazz and take him out. But as he reappeared Skywarp found himself facing Autobot engineer extraordinaire, Wheeljack.

"Damn it, not you again!" Skywarp, knowing how well equipped the engineer was against his powers, tried to warp again, only to get a grenade to the face, fired from one of Wheeljack's shoulder cannons. It was a shrapnel grenade, and as soon as it exploded, Skywarp had a face full of razor sharp metal shards that buried into his face, tearing his optical coverings and even going into his mouth. "Gah! Why am I always stuck with you!"

"The humans call it karma," Wheeljack said, using his built-in magnets to deal a strong punch to the Seeker's face. "You should look it up when you get the chance."

Nightshade scowled as she saw the way the battle was going. The Autobots, despite having around the same numbers as them, were augmented by the Minicons' power and were gaining a significant advantage over them. She saw Optimus fighting Blackout with Ironhide and took out Gandiva. She pointed the bow in Prime's direction and pulled the string back, but she was surprised to see Jetfire appear before her.

"I think you won't be needing this for a casual outing." Jetfire quipped, backhanding the bow from her grasp. Nightshade immediately took out her swords and slashed at him, but Jetfire dodged with speed that he never displayed on the ground before.

A side effect of his linkage with Comettor. Jetfire's motor functions were increased in both robot and jet modes. His reflexes were quicker, and his mind processed information faster as well to keep up with the sudden enhancements. Before her blades could get near him, Jetfire grabbed her arms and threw her away with all his strength. Nightshade flew back, but she transformed in the air and fired her missiles at him. Jetfire also transformed to escape the missiles, but they followed his trail, seeking him out thanks to Nightshade's laser guided sight directing them. But she wasn't expecting the two stars that stabbed into her wing.

"What?" Nightshade looked down to see Prowl running at her, with more of those accursed throwing stars in his hands. She planned to shoot him down as well, but then the stars in her wing blew up and she was sent crashing to the ground.

Nightshade hissed in pain as the very sensitive nerve circuits in her wing were severely damaged by the precise explosion and shifted back to robot mode. Prowl advanced upon her, leveling his laser rifle at her head.

"Don't move," Prowl ordered. "You've lost this round, Nightshade. Call off your goons and fall back."

"Hehe," Nightshade chuckled, deepening Prowl's frown.

"What's so funny?"

"How you think you have us beat." She replied. "Did it ever cross your mind that Megatron may actually be here, but not in your line of sight? You Autobots think he's a rampaging barbarian, but Megatron didn't get this far by being stupid. You didn't think we forgot about those new toys the humans acquired, did you?"

Prowl's eyes went wide and he called Optimus. "Prime, we need to reach the kids! They're in trouble."

"It's too late Autobot," Nightshade jumped up and powerlinked with Songbird, the Mini-Con transforming into an arm-mounted railgun. "As we speak Megatron is tearing those children apart, and there's not a thing you can do about it."

XXXXXXXXX

"W-where are we going?!" Penny asked, trying to remain upright as Sara carried her and Kevin away from the warehouse like sacks of potatoes. "We have to help them!"

"My orders were to ensure that you two were taken to safety and that is what I intend to do." Sara said. "I will not disobey Ms. Gina."

'Ms. Gina? What the hell has been going on behind my back?' Penny thought.

There was a loud boom behind them, and Sara stopped short, before leaping backwards nearly a few feet in a single jump. And just in time to, as Athena crashed into the ground before them and rolled across the dirt before screeching to a stop.

"Whoa," Kevin gasped. "Gina! Are you alright?"

Gina shook her head and groaned. That sucker punch Megatron had given her suit, along with the toss, had nearly threw her out of her seat, if not nearly dislocated her shoulder against her seatbelt. She rubbed her head and moved Athena to stand upright.

"I'm fine. Just shaken. Ow." Gina winced.

"Where are Darren and Annie?" Penny asked.

They got their answer as the front of the warehouse exploded outwards and the Prometheus and Enyo came barreling through the showering wood splinters, with Megatron running after them. They glided across the ground, trying not to get hit by Megatron's strong, bone crunching blows. Annie fired her minigun and wrist cannon at him, but the bullets only bounced off his thick armor. Megatron leapt at her and grabbed Enyo's arm, lifting the Talos high in the air before throwing it a good distance away from him. As the Enyo crashed into a house, Megatron pointed his fusion cannon at Annie. Darren came at him from behind but Megatron stepped aside and grabbed the suit before it could glide off, spinning it around before slamming it into the ground. Darren grunted as he was jostled in his seat, his head hitting the his seat a bit.

"I remember you, boy." Megatron growled. "The esper who sees himself as Prime's golden child. Did you think that I would forget your transgression against the Decepticons? No one kills one of us and gets away with it. It will be the last regret you will ever have."

"My only regret was not shooting you in the face when I had the chance." Darren remarked.

Megatron snarled and raised his fist to punch the machine in his grasp. Darren pushed down hard on the right pedal and Prometheus flew out of Megatron's grip. But the warlord jumped after him, grabbing onto him before he could get too high in the air. The combined weight caused them both to crash to the ground, sending dust and rocks flying everywhere as they rolled across the ground. Darren deployed his beam rifle, but Megatron knocked it from his unit's grasp. Megatron prepared to bash the unit into scrap, but three missiles hit him in the back and he roared.

"Get away from my brother you son of a bitch!" Annie yelled.

She also drew her beam rifle and began firing green colored beams of condensed solar energy from her weapon. She missed most of her shots, but a few caught Megatron in the torso and legs. They didn't bring him down, but she could see that they did some significant damage. Even Megatron's strong armor was no match against sufficiently powerful energy weapons.

"Die!" Megatron bellowed and transformed to his tank mode. He began firing powerful plasma beams from his fusion cannon, driving towards Annie at speeds that surpassed that of Terran-made tanks. The Enyo vented huge amounts of sol particles as it flew across the ground like a bird, shooting back at Megatron. Neither combatant hit each other, but their little dance of death gave Darren and Gina ample time to regroup.

"Sara, are Kevin and Penny safe?" Gina asked.

"Yes, Ms. Gina," Sara replied over the shared comm-channel. "I have taken the two children a good distance away from the fighting. But you are in need of assistance."

"We're fine, Sara. Just call Teletran-1 for a ground bridge and get them out of here!" Darren said. "We can handle this."

Megatron, back in his robot mode, grappled with the Enyo, but it was clear that the Decepticon was stronger in this exchange. Annie flew up with Megatron in tow to try to blast him in the air, but Megatron gave her Talos a strong punch to the head that nearly took it off. Annie hissed as she crashed to the ground, and cursed as she quickly maneuvered the Enyo to fly out of the shadow of Megatron's leg as it crashed into the spot she was just in. Megatron grabbed Enyo's foot and pulled hard, sending the Talos flying across the street and into another old building.

"Okay, maybe we can't handle this ourselves." Darren corrected himself.

Gina frowned and pressed a button on the console in front of her. A telescoping camera fitted itself over her face and she looked through it. As the computer targeted Megatron, the Athena's beam cannon unfolded from its back and pointed forward, immediately charging up energy gathered from the Talos' Apollo drive. Megatron saw this and aimed his own cannon at her, and his was faster in charging up.

"No!" Darren cried out.

He pushed his Talos to run as fast as its servos would allow, stopping in front of Gina just as Megatron fired his plasma beam. Focusing his power through the cockpit and into the Promtheus itself, he raised its arms and summoned a telekinetic barrier. He winced as the beam hit the barrier with enough power to tear a bot in two in a single shot, the purple flash almost blinding him. But the Prometheus stood strong, and the beam tapered out, leaving two unharmed Talos' and an astonished and angry Megatron.

"What?" He yelled.

"Gina!" Darren screamed. They had little chance for error right now, and he hoped that she was a good shot.

"I know!" She shouted back.

The Prometheus moved out of the way just as the Athena fired its beam cannon. Megatron already saw the beam coming, but it was already upon him before he could move, as the energy was fast enough to reach the distance between him and his prey in two heartbeats. He moved to the right, but got hit right where his left shoulder and arm met. The beam melted through his armored layer, reaching his shoulder joint, but he got away in time before the beam could discharge and explode. A burning hole seared his metal flesh, and the burning pain Megatron felt only fueled his anger.

Darren and Gina saw that he was still in one piece, and both uttered the same curse. "Shit."

Megatron raised his arm and fired another plasma beam, this one twice as powerful. Darren raised a rock wall from the ground, but the beam shot right through it and continued towards them. Gina crashed her machine into Darren's sending them both to the ground and the beam sailed over their heads. It hit the bar behind them and blew it up in a large explosions that would've been deafening had they not been in their soundproof cockpits.

Darren growled and pushed Gina off before rushing his suit forward, ignoring Gina's cries to come back. Megatron fired his cannon again, but Darren's TK shield blocked the beam long enough for him to get into Megatron's face.

"You want me," Darren yelled. "Well here I am!"

The Prometheus dealt series of hard punches to Megatron's face in a one-two pattern before grabbing him and flying into the air. Letting go of Megatron, he planned to punch the warlord back down to earth, but Darren was caught off guard by how faster Megatron was. With a mighty punch, Megatron slammed his fist into Prometheus' torso and sent it shooting across the town into the warehouse, completely destroying it. Megatron landed back on the ground and ran over to the downed Talos. He glared at the machines, its red and gold color scheme reminding him of Zeta Prime from long ago. The thought of that witch made his temper reach dangerous heights.

Darren, barely conscious from the hard G-forces that he took from the blow and the impact, looked at the monitor through blurry eyes to see Megaton looking down at him.

"Time to meet your maker boy." Megatron raised his blade and began to stab it into the cockpit. Sara came down on him from above, firing her arm blasters non-stop. Megatron growled as he felt the bolts tear into his armor and circuitry. The lasers were surprisingly powerful, burning through his armor and damaging his internal components.

Sara landed on his back and changed her blasters into swords, stabbing them into any opening she could find. She deftly avoided Megatron's grasping hands as she did her work-which was not to cause damage, but a distraction. Centurion came in from behind, using the omni-saber to slash deep cuts into Megatron's legs. Megatron roared and backed up, trying to fight off the little annoyances that were keeping him from getting his revenge. He slammed a fist into the ground, but Centurion dodged it and jumped right into Megatron's face around the same time Sara flipped over Megatron's head.

"GAH!" Megatron cried out as both Centurion and Sara stabbed his eyes out, making sure to shatter the optical shutters and hit the optics themselves. They jumped back as he stumbled around, clutching his bleeding eyes in pain. "You little bastards! I'll kill you all!"

"Not in this lifetime, Megatron!"

Megatron couldn't see Optimus, but he could certainly feel the punch he sent that made him fall into a ravaged building. Optimus socked him in the jaw before punching his torso and then backhanding him onto his back. Optimus didn't move from his position in front of Darren as he glared down at Megatron.

"These children are off-limits Megatron," Optimus said. "And as we speak, my Autobots are chasing your Decepticons with their tails between their legs. Your little scheme has failed."

Signaling for a ground bridge, the portal appeared behind Megatron as he glared at Prime through bleeding, sightless eyes as he backed away. "Keep on protecting them, Prime. Sooner or later you will learn just how unreliable those humans are. Just like every other god forsaken race in this galaxy! And when they stab you in the back, I will be there to laugh at your folly!"

"Tell it to Nightshade." Optimus replied.

Scowling, Megatron vanished into the ground bridge and it disappeared. With the threat gone, Optimus turned to Darren, who climbed out of his cockpit. "Are you alright, Darren?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. That punch certainly threw me for a loop there." Darren chuckled.

"Darren!"

Darren looked over to see Kevin and Penny walking towards them and he jumped off his unit to meet them. He gave Kevin and hug and pulled Penny in close for one as well, much to her charging. Gina and Annie walked over to them as well, while Centurion and Sara met up with their friends. Optimus let out a sigh of relief. He made it just in time.

" _Prime, the Cons are retreating."_ Ironhide said over the comm. " _How are things on your end?"_

"Fine, Ironhide. The children are safe." Optimus said, feeling proud at how the trio had held themselves against Megatron. Perhaps getting them involved wasn't so bad now that they could protect themselves after all. "Mission accomplished."

XXXXXXX

Kevin smiled at Penny's awestruck expression as she walked around the Ark, mentally taking pictures of what she saw so that she never forgot it all. It was a stressful day, but in the end, their friends saved the day, after getting thrown around like ragdolls. Kevin introduced Penny to the Autobots and Minicons, who she thanked sincerely for saving their lives and welcoming them to Terra like she was an ambassador of humanity. Even she couldn't contain her enthusiasm.

As for Darren, Annie and Gina; they were taking a rest from their one-sided battle with Megatron. They weren't feeling very hot after getting tossed around by the Decepticon leader, and gave the duty of teaching Penny about the Autobots to Kevin. Something that was usually reserved for themselves. Kevin didn't blame them, they did enough today and deserved the rest.

Once they were done with the tour and introductions, Kevin and Penny stood alone together in a corner in the rec room. They said nothing for a while, just taking the moment to calm down from all the excitement the day brought.

"I can see why you'd want to keep this a secret." Penny remarked. "This stuff is way too intense for anyone to know about."

"It is, and very dangerous as well." Kevin said. "But everything turned out alright in the end. As long as we're more careful, things should go by smoothly again."

Penny hummed in agreement and leaned her head on his shoulder. Kevin raised a brow at the action, but let her be. "Sorry for giving you a hard time before. If I knew you were keeping a secret as big as this then- "

"It wouldn't be much of a secret. You already apologized, Penny. For now, let's just enjoy the peace and quiet before someone walks in and ruins it for us." Kevin said.

"So we're cool?" She asked.

"We're cool."

The best friends went quiet once more, closing their eyes and falling asleep, not even noticing that their hands were intertwined. Yes, it was certainly a good day.


	28. Hearts of Iron

Chapter 28-Hearts of Iron

Ironhide stood across from Optimus with his arms raised in a boxing stance. He had his left foot forward and bent, with his right leg slightly behind his left for lower stability. Optimus was in the same position, though he was hopping from foot to foot in place, ready to move quickly on a dime if need be. It was a habit he inherited from Jazz, way back when they used to train together.

The two Autobots were in the training room having a little spar, for old times' sake if nothing else. Ironhide had actively searched Optimus out to have one with the Prime, saying that he needed a real workout if he wanted to stay in shape. Optimus thought it strange, seeing as nothing was wrong with Ironhide's current technique, but refrained from questioning him and agreed to fight. Even at his advanced age, Ironhide was still no slouch when it came to fighting. Perhaps it was because of another reason. Optimus would not pry into where he was not wanted, but he hoped Ironhide would tell him in time.

At an unspoken signal, Ironhide rushed forward and attacked with a one-two combo, which Optimus blocked with his arms, and lashed out with a kick. Ironhide jumped back and did a low kick to sweep Prime's legs from under him. It worked, but Optimus put all his weight into his back and used his legs to kick forward, using the momentum to propel himself upwards, catching Ironhide in the chest, knocking Ironhide back and off balance.

Ironhide quickly righted himself, but Optimus didn't give him time to recover, as he rushed at Ironhide with a flurry of punches. Ironhide put up his guard, but he grunted as Optimus's punches caused his arms to rattle from the force behind them. Sure, the red Autobot was known for having denser armor than most Autobots, while not losing most of his mobility, but Optimus was also known for his immense strength. When putting the two elements together, Ironhide's armor could only take so much damage before he fell under Prime's relentless assault. He waited for Optimus to dish out another punch, but just as the leader reared back for another punch, Ironhide jumped up and did a spin kick at Prime's chest.

The kick connected, but to his surprise, Optimus grabbed his leg and hauled his body off the ground in an amazing feat of strength. With a grunt, Optimus threw Ironhide to the floor and pinned him twisting an arm behind the mech's back and putting all his weight onto his legs so he didn't have any leverage to move. Ironhide struggled, but found that he couldn't move, and reluctantly gave the match to Optimus.

"Fine," He grunted. "You win. Now get the hell off me."

Optimus got off Ironhide and helped his friend up. "That was a good fight, Ironhide. You're still durable as ever."

"And you're still hard as hell to take down. Seriously, what is it with young bots like you jumping around like Petro-rabbit, hopping all over the place?" Ironhide grumbled. "What ever happened to the good old days when you just stood in place and beat each senseless?"

"Things change, Ironhide. It is the law of nature." Optimus said. "Come, let us take a break. We've been at this for half an hour."

"I can still keep going, Prime."

"I know, but your patrol shift is coming up and it won't do to have you running on a half empty tank on a mission in the field."

Ironhide frowned, but understood where Prime was coming from. Optimus once again was wondering why Ironhide wanted to train so much. He was usually doing checks on the weapons in the munitions plant when he wasn't on patrol, or just hanging out at the bar chugging down as many drinks as his intakes could allow. Whenever he was like this, it usually meant that something was bothering him. And Ironhide wasn't the type to talk about his feelings, but Optimus wasn't known for giving up before he tried.

"Ironhide, is something wrong?" Optimus asked. Ironhide frowned at the question.

"No, Prime. I'm doing fine." He answered. "I'm healthy as a lamb."

"It's not your health I'm worried about, Ironhide. You're only this active off duty when something is on your mind. Just tell me, I can help."

Ironhdie sighed and rubbed his forehead. "It's nothing serious Prime. It's just…I'm feelin' a bit homesick, ya know? Been thinking about Chromia and the others."

"Are you worried about her?"

"Sometimes." He shrugged. "She's a strong girl and all, but I can't help but worry for her. We've been gone for so long and…"

Optimus put a hand on Ironhide's shoulder as a comforting gesture. "I know, Ironhide. I feel the same way. But there is no point in worry about things we cannot change in our power. Not yet anyway."

Optimus really did understand how his friend was feeling. The growing homesickness was growing stronger among the team, not to the point of depression, but enough to have them think gloomy thoughts when left alone to their own devices for too long. Some of the Bots like Wheeljack had hobbies to keep them occupied, but sooner or later, they always had their minds drifting back to the world they left behind. At this point, anything was preferable, just a little update, one that wasn't a millennia old, was enough to satisfy them. Optimus would even settle for just a picture of Cybertron to show that it was still alive and they hadn't completely failed their comrades.

'But until that time comes when someone contacts us,' Optimus thought. 'We will just have to settle with remaining here, fighting the Decepticons until one of us wins…or dies.'

"Come with me, I'll treat you with some energon." He offered. "I'm paying."

"Prime, we don't have to pay."

"I know, but I know that you like hearing it."

Ironhide grinned at Optimus and punched his shoulder. "Cheeky bastard."

Ironhide followed Optimus into the hallway, taking him up on his offer for drinks even though he hated the pity. Looking at Prime now, he had to marvel at how far they had come together. Back during the Decepticon Uprising, things were much different between them. The Autobots were just a security force made to fight the Decepticon terrorists who were sowing seeds of dissent among the populace. Ironhide had joined the force after leaving the state militia from Praxus along with Prowl, and he was absolutely disgusted by how haphazard the Autobots looked. Most of them didn't even know how to handle a gun, let alone fight against seasoned warriors and murderers, and they were all led by this kid, Orion Pax, who had connections with Zeta Prime. For a verteran like Ironhide, it was insulting to think that these bots who couldn't tell their aft from their afterburner was Cybertron's first and only defense against the growing tides of war.

Ironhide didn't hide his disdain for Orion Pax. He considered the mech an upstart from the beginning and was not afraid to criticize him for nearly every decision he made, from his recruitment choices to his style of fighting. His tactics may have worked on the police force, but things were different in the military. He made it clear to Pax that he thought that he wasn't a solid leader that could handle something as big as this, but despite all the insults he threw at the mech, Pax never once yelled back in anger. If anything, he took Ironhide's words into account, listening, rebutting and them acting on the criticisms. Ironhide didn't know when or how, but soon he was at Orion's side acting as his mentor in warfare and leadership, using his knowledge to help forge the Autobots into a force people could put their faith in (which was hard considering the growing distrust of the senate and its associated forces).

He didn't know when things changed between them for good. Perhaps it was when they were raiding that Decepticon cell hiding in Tesarus Minor. They walked right into an ambush thanks to some faulty info, and the Autobots were forced to retreat to avoid taking on any casualties. Orion, ever the hero, had stayed behind to cover their escape. He blew up the bridge that connected the small plate of land to the rest of the metal continent-with himself still on it. Ironhide was barely able to keep Orion from falling to his death, and nearly scrapped himself in the process. As he recalled, it took them two hours to climb back up to the surface, all while trying to avoid getting devoured by stray scraplets that lingered just a few feet beneath the surface.

When he asked Orion why he did that, with a straight face Orion replied, "How can I ask any of my soldiers to do what I am perfectly capable of doing myself? I would never do that to any of my friends, and that includes you."

Ironhide grinned as he remembered how he just stared at Pax for a solid minute before clocking him in the face and passing out. How could anyone be so selfless? He had personally vowed to stay close to Orion as his bodyguard, considering how he was such a high profile figure, but he layered that under an excuse of making sure that Pax didn't get himself killed being a hero.

"Optimus, Ironhide!"

Sparkplug's voice brought Ironhide outside of his reverie. The yellow Minicon ran into the room with a look of urgency present on his face.

"What's wrong Sparkplug?" Optimus asked.

"I think we've just found another Minicon panel!" Sparkplug said. Optimus and Ironhide glanced at each other.

"Looks like we'll have to put the drinks on hold."

XXXXXXXX

Ironhide had to marvel at how well Gina and Ratchet looked when working together. The medic stood at the Teletran-1 terminal showing pictures downloaded from Gina's computer.

"We found this on the internet an hour ago." Gina said. "It's a picture showing a festival in the kingdom of Azadistan."

She brought up an image of a parade of sorts, where men in white robes were leading a crowd of people through the streets. In the center of the throng of people were four carriers that were transporting a large platform with a golden chest on it. On the side of that chest was a very familiar symbol engraved in the extravagant metal.

"That a Minicon symbol alright." Ironhide nodded. "But is it the actual panel? The last thing we need is false information."

Gina pressed another button and monitor showed another image, this one with the priests praying in front of an altar, and the head priest holding up a pentagonal object in reverence. The image resolution was trash, but the Autobots could tell that this was definitely a stasis panel.

"When was this picture taken?" Optimus asked.

"A little over a year ago. Turns out that the panel is considered a sacred relic by the people of Azadistan." Ratchet explained. "These photos show the priests transporting it from temple to temple as per their religious customs. It's rare for any pictures to be taken of this event, much less of them actually praying, which is why we're just noticing this now."

"Well then we better get a move on before the Cons get a hold of this to." Ironhide said. It was unlikely the Cons would really find this photo, but one can never be so sure with Soundwave on their side.

"Not so fast, Ironhide," Gina frowned. "Azadistan, hell the entire middle east, is a warzone. The kingdom itself is a hotbed for insurgents and civil conflicts, which only add on to the nation's social and economic strife. It's not a safe place to be, and the last place to be holding an secret robot death matches."

"And to make things more difficult, the country is home to a Karaba cell." Ratchet said.

"Karaba, as in those esper-supremacy yahoos?" Ironhide inquired.

"The very same." Gina nodded. "They rolled in last year and wasted no time in entrenching themselves into Azadistan's hierarchy, not long after Queen Marina Ibrahim's coronation. There are rumors that she negotiated a truce with Karaba, offering them sanctuary in return to protection from other provinces looking to cause them any trouble."

"She made a deal with terrorists?" Sparkplug questioned.

"It wasn't by choice. Azadistan was already falling to pieces due to getting caught in the middle between two warring countries that sought their hephaestium supply. The last thing the queen needed was to have Karaba rolling in and causing more destruction. If anything, she's using them as a deterrent to keep other nations, including the Helic Republic off their backs." Gina said firmly. She wanted to make it clear that despite her choices, the queen of Azadistan was not a bad person, just a good woman brought into a terrible war. "Not to mention that around the same time Karaba appeared, the panel went missing from the temple."

Optimus narrowed his eyes. "I doubt that is a coincidence."

"It's not. There is a very high probability that Karaba has the panel in their possession and are using it as leverage against the Azadistan government." Ratchet said.

Optimus thought of how to approach this. A place like Azadistan was the last place he wanted to be with all the discord and chaos going on. The chances of being discovered were significantly higher there thanks to all the fighting. Karaba was another problem that proved disastrous to the mission. "Due to the sensitive nature of this mission, it's prudent that we remain hidden as long as possible. Ironhide, you're with me on this mission. For the time being, we will gather information on the panel to confirm that it's still in the area."

"Roger that, Prime." Ironhide nodded.

"I know you don't need to hear this, Optimus, but be careful. Karaba may not be as advanced as OZ, but they're still dangerous." Gina cautioned. She needed to hammer in how dangerous it was to deal with them. "Karab is hostile to any and all humans. Some will even attack you on sight unless you're an esper."

"That's what we have holomatters for, kid." Ironhide waved her off, but Gina glared at him.

"Don't take this so damn lightly! If they have telepaths on sight, then they'll know you're not human the minute you get within range, holomatter or not. Don't take them lightly, guys. A lot of their members are Alpha-level espers, like Aries and Aquarius."

"Your opinion is noted, Gina." Optimus said. "But this is a risk we must take. We don't have a lot of choices present to us at the moment. For now we will gather information and go about the mission on what we learn. Should our paths cross with Karaba, then we will improvise."

"Now that we're done with storytime," Ironhide powered up his cannons. "Can we get a move on? We're losing daylight over here."

Optimus nodded. It was time to get to work.

XXXXXXXX

The kingdom of Azadistan was a small nation located near the central region of the part of Asia known as the Middle East. Like most of the region, Azadistan was embroiled in a constant struggle for survival, either from the elements, or from their fellow man, who seem keen on wiping out everything in their path. The stress of the political and social decay in the kingdom was showing on the faces of the people, decadent expressions that Ironhide recognized all too well from his time hunting for Cons in the city of Nyon.

Optimus and Ironhide drove through the crowded streets in Azadistan's capital city, Anzu, in their Terran forms with holomatters in the drivers seats. Despite it being one of the largest and most advanced cities in the nation, it gave off a feeling of holding more people than it physically could. It was clear that they were still suffering from the after effects of the Gulf War that had tore the Middle East in two after the Helic Repbulic got involved in the mess. It was under the claim of protecting Republic interest that they explained their reasons for interfering, and because their involvement with their more advanced military and weaponry, the HR had gained the hatred and animosity from most of the government and public. With all the fighting that was going on, Ironhide could see that the people were sick and tired of being pushed around by other nations-local and foreign. They wanted to feel safe again, and were willing to ally with known terrorist if they had to get that security.

As they drove through the city, Ironhide noticed a few odd individuals in the crowd, men and women wearing white armor bearing the insignia of a crescent moon with a star inside. Most of them looked like normal humans, but some had outlandish appearances, like a man whose body was composed of nothing but a skeleton encased in a gelatinous form or a woman sporting red scaly skin that glowed red to the touch. They were certainly different from espers like Darren and Kevin.

"Prime," Ironhide said. "These people…are they Karaba?"

"Yes. It seems their presence in the area is more dominant than I thought." Optimus said.

"They aren't even trying to hide themselves. Aren't they afraid of getting taken out by Helic military forces?"

"I doubt they have anything to fear. By allying with Azadistan, they've essentially made it so that any action taken against them is seen as an act of war against Azadistan. A double-edged sword." Optimus explained, looking at the people he drove by. "Though, that doesn't stop some in Delpoi from demanding a strike against the kingdom without their permission for this very reason."

"Karaba acts as Azadistan's sword, while Azadistan acts as Karaba's shield," Ironhide whistled at the logic in that. "That's pretty damn smart."

"Karaba isn't known for having less intelligent people running their operations. They've grown in a short time, and their accumulated numbers are sufficient enough to make a small army. Small, but strong enough to make others think twice about standing against them. Azadistan is taking advantage of that to ensure that they maintain their sovereignty."

It was something both Bots were familiar with. Back on Cybertron, numerous parties joined the Decepticons, back before they evolved into an army, out of the promise of breaking free from the stagnate ties that had degraded their society beyond measure. Some joined because they were promised a world where they didn't have to look over their shoulder just for speaking out of turn. The people were desperate and needed someone to protect them, to guide them into a new age. Megatron, ever the opportunist, had used this to great effect in his campaign and gained thousands of followers all over the planet. It was a miracle the Autobots had managed to hold off the Decepticon advance with their lack of resources and numbers in comparison to the Cons.

"Ironhide, we will split up here." Optimus told his partner as they stopped at an intersection. "If we want to find any clues on the panel, then we must ask around for it. If it turns out that Karaba does have it, then we must find a way to locate their base of operations."

"Wouldn't they put it inside the city?"

"They may work with the Azadistan government, but that doesn't mean that they're welcome. There is a high probability that Karaba has a base outside the city, far from Anzu, but close enough that they can still keep an eye on their agents. We must be thorough, but also be careful as well."

"Got it, Prime." Ironhide nodded. "Good hunting."

"Same to you, Ironhide."

They split up and drove towards different parts of the city. Optimus headed to the marketplace where there were more people, while Ironhide searched the residential areas, which was a more inconspicuous route for him. Neither Bots knew who to ask or what to look for. They had to be careful to avoid raising a stink among the populace lest they draw attention to themselves and that was something they wanted to avoid at all costs during the early stages of the operation.

Naturally they had varying degrees of success. Ironhide's gruff demeanor and the rugged appearance of his holo-avatar had made his interrogation of the locals more difficult than it should be. The way he carried himself just screamed 'thug' and people avoided him, which only made him more aggravated. Meanwhile, Optimus was having a lot more luck in his search. He still exuded a natural charisma that helped ease the people he talked to out of their shells, allowing them to feel at ease around him despite the large size of his holomatter and deep voice. But despite this, they had no luck in finding anything out about the panel aside from what they already know-it went missing a few weeks after Karaba had set up shop in Anzu.

"No one has seen the relic since it's disappearance," Said the old woman Prime was conversing with. She was making a clay pot as she spoke to him, her white eyes staring up at his large form unblinkingly. "Anyone who might have seen it on the night it was stolen was killed during the theft, presumably so they wouldn't talk."

"I see," Optimus frowned. "Has Karaba made any demands or taken responsibility?"

"Of course not, young man." She scoffed. "Do you think they would really confess to the crime? No, those Karaba bastards didn't say a word, but everyone knows they did it. But there's nothing we can really do about it, is there?"

Optimus saw how it is; Karaba steals the relic, but doesn't make any demands, leaving them open to suspicion, but without any proof, the kingdom can't do a damn thing about it without causing a fuss and possibly igniting a war with Karaba. Karaba keeps the relic under close surveillance, given the unspoken demand that Azadistan holds up their end of the deal or else they'll lose their precious religious symbol forever. Optimus knew that the panels were built to withstand the worst environmental conditions nature can muster, including atmospheric re-entry, but that didn't ease his concern that there was an esper capable of at least damaging it.

"Thank you for the information ma'am. You were a bit help." Optimus said and began to walk away.

"Who are you, boy?" The old woman asked. "I know you're not from around here, and those questions you're asking are bound to draw attention to you? Are you some sort of secret police agent or one of those government lapdogs from across the sea?"

"I am neither," He answered truthfully. "Just someone trying to make the world a safe place for all of us."

The old woman cackled. "You and everyone else on this planet. Word of warning boy, keep yourself scarce. These Karaba goons are no joke, they will try to silence you if you start causing trouble for them."

"Then I will just have to mind my words." Replied Optimus and he walked away from the old woman and her collection of pottery. He exited the little side street he was parked in front of and made for his alt mode when someone called out to him.

"Hey, you!" A man shouted. "Hold it right there!"

Optimus cursed inwardly and turned to the person speaking to him. Two Karaba soldiers were making their way towards him. One was a very muscular young man with green skin and slitted eyes with a mouth split in a toothy sneer, and his partner was a woman who had long blue-green hair that reached down to her waist. To him, it looked as if her hair was waving in the air on its own power, without a breeze. Both espers wore white armor, mostly to show their status, but just light enough that they wouldn't cook from the heat as well.

"Yes?" Optimus asked as they stopped in front of him. "Is something a matter?"

"You bet your ass something's wrong!" The lizard man growled. "Word around town says that you're askin' questions about us. If you have something to say, then say it to our faces bub!"

"Gila, chill out." The long haired woman sighed. "Look dude, you've done nothing wrong, but we can't have people asking odd questions about us. That looks a little suspicious and we can't be too careful."

"So how about you piss off outta town?" Gila said.

"I didn't mean to cause any trouble." Optimus said. "I just wanted to see where the relic was. My daughter, she's visiting me for the week and I wanted to have her pray before it at least once before she leaves to go back overseas."

"You think we give a damn about that!?" Gila hissed, his voice turning into a growl.

"Gila, calm down." The woman cautioned.

"No, fuck that Lorelei!" Gila shouted. "Self entitled pricks like him are the reason we're slumming it out in this fucking dust bowl! I'm getting tired of bowing down to these humans when they're better off mulch for the worms!"

Optimus took a step back as Gila's body began change in front of him. He grew a head taller than Optimus, and his green skin began to harden with scales. His face elongated into a reptilian snout and his mouth sprouted a gaping maw full of steel hard teeth. The man had become a nine foot tall lizard/human hybrid that looked absolutely monstrous and savage. Gila flexed his bulging muscles and glared down at Optimus.

"I'm gonna enjoy tearing you apart!" Gila hissed through his long snout.

Optimus got into a stance as Gila advanced upon him and prepared himself as the esper raised his claws to attack, but to his surprise, the humanoid reptile had his arms restrained by two thick cords of sea green hair. Optimus looked to see Lorelei using her hair to hold her partner back and was surprisingly succeeding in the effort. Her hair must've been really tough to fight back the enhanced strength of Gila in his animal form.

"Get out of here!" Lorelei grunted, mentally controlling her hair to coil around Gila's arms. "Scram before he rips you apart!"

Optimus nodded his thanks to her and ran back to his truck form. He stared back at the two espers, who were now arguing fiercely in the middle of the side walk, seeing the civilians give the two a wide berth or avoiding them altogether after the little aggressive display they showed. Once he was far enough to know that he wasn't being followed, Optimus contacted Ironhide.

"Ironhide, did you have any luck?"

"No," Ironhdie grumbled over the line. "Freakin' cowards kept avoiding me like the rust plague. I could barely get a word in before they just sidestepped me like I was gonna mug them."

Optimus wanted to say that's what he got for choosing a holomatter avatar that looked like a member of a biker gang mixed with a serial killer, but he was nice enough to stay silent on that. But it didn't stop that smile that broke across his face. When Ironhide asked him about his part, he told him what happened with the Karaba soldiers.

"Ha! And here I thought I was going to be the one to start a fight with the locals." Ironhide grinned.

"It was fortunate that one of them had enough restraint to hold him back and not join in on the fun." Optimus said. Though the holomatters, being hard-light technology instead of flesh and blood, were immune to pain, a powerful attack was enough to severely harm their real forms before they had a chance to retract their psychic link to the avatars.

"So I guess that answers our question of who has the panel. Wonderful." Ironhide sighed. "So what's our next move?"

"Locate where their base is, then formulate a plan on how to get in without knowing the layout of the facility-if there is one." Optimus said, sounding tired. This mission just got even more complicated within a very short span of time. "Remain on standby until I can figure out where to begin."

"Yes, Prime." Ironhide replied and cut the link. He sighed and looked out the window, watching the people walk by him. He huffed in aggravation and drove away from the quiet neighborhood, heading towards the marketplace where Prime would be. Looks like there would be no action for him today.

XXXXXXX

"I hate this place so much." Ironhide grumbled. "I should've gotten Jazz to go instead. He likes wasting time in combat situations."

He was driving through the overcrowded marketplace, trying not to run over the impatient pedestrians who thought that running in front of him was a good idea. He was sorely tempted to do that just to make a point to force others to obey traffic laws. Damn fools. They were lucky he was an Autobot. After driving around in circles for a parking spot, he finally found one and snagged it before another driver in a van too large for the spot could even look at it. Of course, the driver tried to start something over the parking spot, but Ironhide made sure to stare the man down with his unwavering gaze until the puny human backed off. Once that little altercation was done, all that he could do now was wait.

And so here he was, slumming out in the middle of a city that was just a few murders away from tearing itself apart. All this inaction was making his trigger finger itchy and that was something that didn't bode well for anyone near him. He didn't get it, Karaba were terrorists, he had seen the damage they've caused in Delpoi, the people they've killed in their pursuit of conquest. Why weren't they just shaking a goon down for the location of their base and then storming the place under a disguise? He knew the reason, he wasn't like those Autobot cadets who think with their guns instead of their heads. Taking aggressive action against a group as volatile as Karaba could spell disaster for the people of Azadistan, or even the Helic Republic. They could start an international incident if they were reckless.

'If these bastards were OZ we wouldn't be sneaking around them. We'd have taken them out before they even knew what hit them.' Ironhide thought. Thinking about those cannibalistic nutjobs got his oil boiling again and he groaned. 'How long is Prime going to take with this?'

"You're not going anywhere you little freak!"

The yell had caught his attention and he looked to his left. Inside an alleyway. Three men were corning a woman against the wall. She was a young woman with long lavender hair that reached mid-back, with two short, curved horns on her head, dressed in a tight white shirt and jeans. Ironhide saw the bats in their hands and knew that this wasn't a happy get together. He hummed and got out of his alt mode, strolling towards the alley with a growing grin on his face. He just found a way to vent his frustration.

"We're only going to say this once, monster," The ringleader, a young man who would've looked handsome had he not been sporting an ugly scowl on his face, growled. "Get out of our home, and take those other freaks with you. You bring bad fortune upon our nation, and we can't take it anymore!"

The girl didn't look scared at all. If anything, she looked a bit annoyed. "Samir, we've been down this route before. I can't order my comrades to leave the city. They're under the command of someone higher than me. Surely, someone of your intelligence can understand that."

"You better watch your mouth you little bitch or-"

"Or what? None of you can touch me." She said.

"Is that so?" Samir sneered. "Let's see if you're still talking shit after we beat you to a bloody pulp!"

"Yeah, let's show the bitch her place!" His friends cheered.

Samir reached out to grab the girl's burka, but he found his hand ensnared in a vice grip that nearly shatter his wrist. Both him and the girl looked up to see Ironhide looming over them, his face stone cold.

"That's not how you're supposed to treat a lady." Ironhide growled.

"Stay out of this outsider!" Samir yelled. "We're showing this demon what happens to people who invade our kingdom. Don't interfere."

"Yeah," He drawled. "Not gonna happen."

One of the men ran at Ironhide with a metal bat, swinging it at Ironhide's head. The Autobot leaned back so that the bat whooshed over his face and lunged forward, catching the offender with a strong punch to the face. The punch broke the man's nose on impact and sent him crashing into a dumpster, knocking him unconscious. The other goon took out a pocket knife and tried to gut Ironhide. Just like his friend, Ironhide took him out with an elbow to the face before throwing him over his shoulder and into Samir, sending both men to the ground.

"Good night." Ironhide grinned and looked at the girl. "You alright kid?"

The girl looked up at him with a dull glare. "You didn't have to help me. I was doing fine on my own."

"What, no thank you?" Ironhide quipped. "Kid, you were cornered by three thugs in an alleyway. I don't know how things go around here, but that's not a good sight to me."

"I am a warrior of Karaba, stranger." She said firmly. "I can take care of myself. Observe."

The girl raised her tanned arm and clenched her fist. Then before Ironhide's eyes, the arm began to dissolve into sand, shooting over his shoulder and into the face of Samir, who was trying to stab Ironhide in the back with his knife. Samir screamed as thousands of little sand particles tore at his face, stripping away at his skin, getting into his eyes, nose and mouth. It was like getting cut by a cloud of tiny shards of glass. Ironhide looked at the horrific sight in shock and saw that Samir was starting to choke on the sand.

"Whoa, hold up!" He said. "You're gonna kill him!"

"That's the idea."

"If you do that kid, then the cops are gonna know that an esper caused this." Ironhide told her. "And I know that you don't anymore problems on your hands."

The girl stared at him for a moment before she recalled her sand. The grainy cloud stopped its attack on Samir, who had passed out from the pain and lack of oxygen, and returned to reform her arm. Ironhide let go of the breath he was holding. Sure, he had seen espers in action before like Darren and even Aquarius, but they didn't have powers as outlandish as that. Honestly, it was a bit unnerving.

'Still, this might be the opening I was looking for.' He thought. "Hey kid, you said you're from Karaba right?"

"Yes I am." She answered. "Is that a problem?"

"Not at all. In fact, you're just the person I'm looking for." Ironhide grinned. "Do you know where I can join?"

XXXXXXXX

"Ironhide, this plan of yours is far too risky," Optimus said. "The chances of things going wrong are too great."

"We don't have a choice, Prime. I saw an opportunity and I took it." Ironhide replied, not sounding guilty at all about what he just told Optimus. "And besides, I'm already putting my plan into action."

The two Autobots were conversing via their comm-link. Ironhide had just told Optimus about the plan he had just thought up literally on the spot. A plan that involved manipulating a Karaba agent into leading him to the base and him infiltrating it under the guise of a potential epser recruit. Optimus didn't hesitate to tell Ironhide that the plan had too many flaws and potential to go wrong, but he failed to convince his partner to do anything else.

"Trust me, Prime, I know what I'm doing." He said. "I'm not green like those kids you work with."

"I know, Ironhide. I do trust you, but it's the situation that has me worried. What if an esper finds out about your true nature? What will you do then?"

"We'll worry about that when it happens. I'm not Prowl, I don't make contingency plans, because I know this is going to work."

Optimus sighed at his friend's stubbornness and relented to Ironhide's risky, but effective idea. "Very well. Be careful. I will follow your signal and be in position for extraction should things go south."

"Hopefully that won't be the case." Ironhdie chuckled. "Be ready in case things get hot. I'll see you in the lion's den."

Ironhide signed off and Optimus found himself sighing again. As experienced Ironhide was in field operations, he wasn't that skilled in infiltration like Jazz and Bumblebee. But he trusted his security officer to keep things under control, and Ironhide has yet to fail in his endeavor. He just hoped that things ended smoothly, or they'll have another human organization hunting them down.

XXXXXXX

The drive to the Karaba base had took them a few miles away from Anzu, out into the wilderness that was rarely traversed by people these days save for military convoys and merchants. Ironhide had long since lost sight of the city and he knew that it would be a hassle for Prime to get through the narrow canyons and tight corners that ended off in steep drops. These people knew the land well enough to set up shop in places where they could be sure that no large military force could travel through.

Ironhide looked at his passenger, who hadn't said a word to him since they left the city except to give him directions to the base. She led him to a small rocky outcropping near after driving through a narrow canyon, and once he got out, he was met with a very odd sight.

It looked like the entire valley was composed of black solidified magma. The ground, the canyon walls, even the rock formations, were all covered in smooth, polished onyx that glinted off the sun. His destination was surrounded by four large walls of onyx, which were connected to the same number of tall spires with small openings carved out where guards were posted to keep an eye on the only entrance to the valley. Ironhide parked himself outside the front gates and got out with his escort, who waved at the guards.

The gates creaked open and they entered the base-except the place looked more like a small village than an actual terrorist camp. The ground wasn't made from onyx like the walls were, and the houses were large and numerous, made from rock and sand in a way that looked impossible to build without the efforts of an esper. Ironhide couldn't believe his eyes as he saw children playing in the open area, woman talking with each other and men working hard at making weapons and such for the main force. It all looked eerily normal, except that a good number of these people had abnormal appearances that ranged from animalistic qualities to outright strange appendages sticking out of their bodies.

"This is not what I was expecting to see." He said. The girl glanced back at him.

"And what exactly were you expecting?" She asked. There was no malic in her voice, she was simply curious.

"I don't know," Ironhide shrugged. "Soldiers doing exercises, weapons training, maybe a prisoner cell or two. Like what they show on tv."

"The Helic Republic likes to paint a picture of us based on how we operate. They see a few training camps that are separate from settlements like this and they think that any man, woman and child who joins us are terrorists who should be killed on sight." She said. "This place is merely a temporary sanctuary for espers who live in this region. While we're stationed in Azadistan, we've made it out top priority to find and recruit as many espers as possible. Here, some people have a chance to make some semblance of a life, away from the hateful stares and attacks."

Ironhide saw a girl covered in fur playing with a boy whose hair looked like it was made of fire. "A lot of children here."

"War orphans. They've lost their homes to the fighting between insurgents and militias here. Some were kicked out of their homes because of their esper powers."

"Parents would do that to their children?" He frowned.

"You'd be surprised how fragile the bond between a parent and their child is when espers are concerned. This is common knowledge no matter where you come from." She looked back at him. "It seems that you are not well versed in the true ways of the world."

'It would seem so.' Ironhide thought.

This place was a shanty town for the abandoned and forgotten, people who were hated by the world because they grew wings or could control the elements. It never occurred to Ironhide that Karaba was also a haven for people who had no place else to go, and was a group that welcomed those who were angry at the rest of humanity for what they did to them. In the world of espers, the bonds between siblings, parents, even children, were not as sacred as they are with naturals. Here was a tightly knit community that saw each other as family in all but blood, because their real blood tried to stone them to death or led a mob that tear them to pieces on the grounds of doing "God's work".

Ironhide was sickened by this. He now knew why Darren and Kevin went to such great lengths to keep their powers hidden. One can never know how people will react to espers hiding amongst them. It reminded him, he realized with a grimace, of the formation of the Decepticons and the great lengths Zeta Prime took to root out any sympathizers and members so she could eliminate-kill, not capture-in order to quell the coming war. Her approach only made things worse for the Autobots and did more damage than good. And it seemed that the natural/esper conflict growing on Terra was a reflection of this.

The girl, whose name he still did not know, led him to the large citadel that was made from metal, built into the side of the valley wall. Only one man stood guard outside the facility. He was a handsome man, slender and toned with an angular face framed by curly blond hair. Ironhide thought that this man looked a bit like those Grecian statues depicting the perfect shape of the human body. He even wore a sash around his shoulders and loose pants that were puffed out at the ankles.

"Genn," He said in a chipper tone. "You're back. That was fast. And you brought a friend with you."

"Adonis," The girl, Genn, nodded her head. She motioned to Ironhide. "This is…"

"Arron Hide." Ironhide supplied, another little disguise he thought on the spot.

"He tried to rescue me from some local thugs, even though I was doing fine," She muttered. "And requests to join Karaba."

"A new recruit? That's wonderful!" Adonis smiled. "None of these guys out here want to join us against the natural scourge, so it's a breath of fresh air to have someone new onboard."

"That's nice." Ironhide said, a little put off by the man's enthusiasm.

"Follow me. I'll take you to the commander."

Ironhide followed Adonis through the large metal doors into the base, but them he noticed that Genn wasn't following them. "You're not coming?"

She shook her head. "My job is done. Here is where we part ways." Genn paused then said, "Thank you for your assistance earlier. Esper or not, it is rare for strangers to put their lives on the line for one another."

"Anytime kid." Ironhide said. "See ya soon. I hope."

Genn watched the strange white skinned man walk into the facility and didn't take her eyes off him until the doors slammed shut. Ironhide was in, and now the hard part was about to begin.

XXXXXX

The inside of the base didn't look as impressive as Ironhide originally believed. It was a more like a haphazardly built underground bunker; with the walls covered in metal plating over the cooled magma that lay underneath the, smoothly covering the smooth stone, but not enough to look professional. He guessed that they were hard pressed for building materials to make something out of the base on the inside. There were armed guards of course, regular looking humans who watched him curiously as they walked passed. Ironhide wondered why espers would need assault rifles as weapons when they could just use their powers, but he didn't realize that not every esper had powerful abilities. The guards who went about the base on their duties were mostly espers who had powers that were less fantastic that they wanted.

'No electronic alarms from what I can see,' Ironhide thought as he studied his surroundings. 'And it doesn't look like they're a lot of advanced tech here that might give me some trouble. Good. The less noise I make going out, the better.'

Adonis led him to the room near the heart of the base and knocked three times. "Captain, it's me."

"Come in."

Ironhide followed Adonis in and he was met with a room that was almost pitch black. There was some light coming from the overhead lamp, but other than that, the rest of the room was covered in shadow. It was empty, save for a single desk and cabinet at the back, and there were antique swords sitting on the walls in an orderly fashion. And the man that he was supposed to meet was cleaning a katana with the most stone cold expression that Ironhide had ever seen on a man.

The captain was a middle age man who had a very imposing air about him. He had the same tan complexion as the Azadistans, but wire a lavish maroon colored suit with a rose on his right breast pocket. He wore a white coat over his shoulders and was smoking a cigar. Ironhide had no idea who this man was, but he could tell that this guy was no joke. He had seen and done some shit in the past.

"So you're the stranger that rescued Sooraya," The man said in an even tone. He looked up at Ironhide, quickly studying his form in a single sweep of his gaze. "What is your name?"

"Arron Hide."

"Arron Hide. Not a common name around these parts." He noted. Huffing out a puff of smoke, he introduced himself. "I am Sakazuki, captain of this little branch of ours. It's not much, but we've been able to ensure the humans of Anzu that we are still formidable despite our small numbers."

"I can see that." Ironhide said dryly.

"Arron here says that he wants to join our group." Adonis supplied.

"So you want to join Karaba, huh? Picked one hell of a place to start a new career." Sakazuki said. "I hope you understand that even when espers are concerned we can't just up and accept anyone into our little group. There are enemies all around us, and we have to be careful not to bring in anyone who might be a lapdog of the naturals."

"I get that. In this line of work, being a bit paranoid keeps people alive." Ironhide nodded. He knew it wasn't going to be easy, but he hoped that they didn't dig too deep into his reasons for wanting to get close to them.

Sakazuki put down his sword and stood up, showing that he was nearly as tall as Ironhide's holomatter as he walked around his desk and stopped in front of him. The captain looked Ironhide straight in the eyes as he continued to speak.

"If you want to join the club, then you're going to have to show us proof." He told Ironhide. "Here in the middle east, even espers are wary of Karaba. They think we bring more war and death to their already rotting cesspool of a country. Some are even openly hostile to us despite our goal of helping esperkind, and so we must be very careful of who we bring into the fold."

Ironhide nodded his agreement.

"So tell me," Sakzuki stared Ironhide straight into his eyes. "What is your power."

This was something Ironhide had been preparing for. He couldn't simulate flashy powers like telekinesis or energy control, he could change his holomatter's appearance based on an alien species he came into contact with in the past. And these yahoos would be none the wiser. All he had to do was make a convincing enough show to make the act look real.

Ironhide gritted his teeth and flexed his muscles to make it look like he was straining and then began to change his body. The transformation was slow and was made to look physically and mentally painful to show how grotesque it was. Bones cracked as they shifted and extended, muscles ripped under his skin as they grew larger and thicker, his legs bent forward like that of an animal's hind legs and made him a bit taller. Black fur grew along his body, and his face flattened to show feline features. His clothes ripped a bit from the slightly larger body mass he was exerting and the increase in size. The human Ironhide was gone, replaced by this bipedal black furred feline that looked like a panther standing on two legs.

"Impressive." Adonis praised with a smirk. It was not every day that you meet an esper that can control the change between forms like that. He was one of the lucky ones.

"It's not as fancy as controlling metal or something like that," Ironhide said in a gruff voice partially marred by his large fangs. "But it's kept me alive this long."

This form was based off a feline species he had met on one of the few off-world missions he took during the War for Cybertron. They were known as Ishtarans, and they lived on a world that was rich in energy producing crystals and tectonic activity. Ironhide and his team was stationed there to help the natives fight off a Decepticon platoon that had been harnessing the planet's natural resources to fuel their weapons production facility. It was a long, drawn out war of attrition that led to many deaths, but Ironhide had promised the people that he would liberate their land. In the end, he did exactly what he promised, and the looks the joy-filled Ishtarans gave him had energized him for years to come. It reminded Ironhide of just why he was fighting in this hellish war in the first place-to make sure that people like the Ishtarans didn't have to pay for the mistakes of the Cybertronians.

"So how about it?" He asked, smirking down at Sakazuki, whom he now towered over. "Did I make the cut boss?"

XXXXXXX

Genn sat on the edge of a cliff overlooking the village. Her eyes gazed down at the people mingling about, as if they weren't hanging out with the world's most wanted terrorist group. They knew what they were involved in, but they were desperate for someplace to call home without having their neighbor try to gut them in their sleep. She watched the kids play around in the dusty streets, kicking a ball around, looking so innocent. They had no idea of the world that hated and feared their kind, and would go to great lengths to eliminate them for their own self-preservation. They were starving and thirsty, but they still had their families.

Thinking about family brought a familiar pang to Genn's heart and she took out an old worn photo from her burka. It showed a younger Genn sitting next to an older boy and a beautiful woman with dark skin and long black hair, looking at the camera with kind eyes. Funny how this picture brought both sadness and stability at the same time for her.

"Nice picture."

Genn jumped and looked up to see Ironhide standing next to her with that infuriatingly cocky smirk. She huffed and turned away, tucking her photo against her belly.

"What do you want? I thought that you were speaking with the captain." She said.

"Just got out of a meeting with him." Ironhide said. "He told me that he would consider it, though I think he was impressed with the show I gave him."

"I'm surprised to see that you're still here. Captain Sakazuki is not an easy man to please, much less impress." Genn noted. Ironhide shrugged.

"Well I guess I'm just special like that." He said.

Ironhdie plopped himself next to Genn and looked down at the village along with her. He gave her minute glances in her direction when she wasn't looking, but quickly looked away, not enjoying the awkward silence at all. She could tell he was eying her photo but was polite enough not to pry into her business, which she thought was sweet, but a bit annoying. Finally, Genn broke the silence by answering his unspoken question.

"They are my mother and older brother." She said softly. Then added, "Both of them are human."

"Really?" Ironhide blurted out, and immediately cursed himself for it. But Genn wasn't insulted.

"Contrary to what you think, not all espers in Karaba have completely sworn on contact with naturals." Genn explained. "Some still have close ties with natural relatives to accept them for who they are and try to support them covertly. My mother and brother, they are the only family I have in this world."

"I'm guessing you father is…gone?" He asked.

"Yes, but not in the way you think. He vanished just after I was born, and as a result, my mother was seen as an 'improper' woman because of it. Even though it wasn't her fault."

"Harsh."

"It is common in this region of the world. The people of the Middle East hold on to traditions thousands of years old, often to the detriment of those born different from society's norms." She said.

Ironhide didn't know what to say. He knew very little about human society, both because he didn't care to know more than what he was supposed to learn, and there were so many cultures that he couldn't be bothered to study. That was Jazz's thing. Still, seeing her brought one question to his mind.

"If you have a family, then why are you hanging out with these guys?" Ironhide questioned her. "I imagine that you mother would be worried sick about her daughter working in a terrorist group."

"It's because of my mother that I work for Karaba." Genn replied firmly. She took a deep breath and looked away. "My mother was kidnapped and sold into slavery by salve traders. Espers, if you can believe that. The day she was taken was also the same day I manifest my powers. Scholars would call it my Awakening."

Awakening was the term used for the moment an esper's power manifests. This event is completely random, and there is no warning at all for it, thus making the results all the more chaotic. The power brought forth does so in an explosive manner, brought about by stressful emotions like fear, anger, sadness, or in rare cases, moments of extreme happiness. Such events often cause the newly born esper to be hated on the spot due to the potential chaos it causes, and many espers can describe it as being very traumatizing.

"I used my powers over sand to help my brother and I escape," Genn lifted her hand and willed her fingers to dissolve into a small cloud of sand hovering around her arm. "But I was unable to rescue my mother."

"I'm sorry." Ironhide sighed, but she shook her head.

"This is how life is in the middle east. The strong survive, and the weak perish. But that doesn't mean I have to sit by and take it." Genn continued. "The only reason I joined Karaba was not for esper domination of the world, or the subjugation of naturals, but because they have the resources I need to locate my mother. Once I find her, I am done with Karaba."

"That's a ballsy move. Think they'll let you go when the time comes?" He didn't think that these guys took resignations very well.

"If they will not let me go willingly, then I will use force. I will not be led along for my powers, nor will I be cowed in my quest for my mother." Genn said passionately. "My family comes first."

"Haha!" Ironhide laughed loudly, clapping Genn on the shoulder. She glared at him, but he paid it no mind. "I like you kid! With an attitude like that, no one will try to walk over you."

Genn waited for Ironhide's laugh to die down before she asked her own question. "Since I willingly divulged my past to you, perhaps you can do the same?"

"Depends on what you want to know."

"Do you have any friends or family back where you came from? Back in Delpoi?"

Ironhide thought on how to answer that without looking like he was hiding something. Jazz always said that the best lies were ones that had enough truth to them to come across as natural. "No family, parents are dead and I got no siblings. I have friends, but most of them are just acquaintances save for a few guys I've worked with." He allowed a small smile to spread on his face. "But there is a special someone that I have back home."

"Really?" Genn said, looking at him like he was telling an interesting story.

"Yeah, she's a handful. No different than me in terms of personality so you can imagine how much shit we cause for the people around us. She's a bit of a hothead and has a temper, but I love all the same."

"Do you…" Genn wondered if she should ask something so sensitive. "Miss her?"

"Not a day goes by when I don't think about her kid. Fact is that I've been away from home for a long time, and I doubt I'll be seeing her anytime soon." He said solemnly. "But the thought of her keeps me going, that and the fact that if I die, she's going to dig straight to hell and drag me back out."

Genn chuckled. "She sounds like a strong woman."

"That she is." Ironhide smiled. "Seems like we both have a reason for living."

"Indeed."

They sat in silence after that, enjoying the warm atmosphere that had washed over them. As the evening slowly faded into the night. Once the sun began to set, Ironhide and Genn bade each other goodbye, although for the young woman, this would be the last time she spoke to the Autobot as a friend.

XXXXXXX

Ironhide waited until it was late into the night to begin the heist. He knew that there was a guard posted outside his quarters, another means to keep an eye on him, and he phased his holomatter through the wall past the sleeping guard to sneak down the hallway. Stealth wasn't Ironhide's thing, but his holomatter was flexible in that regard. He nullified its weight so that he could walk down the halls without making any noise. He was out and about, so all he needed to do was get to the panel's location. He had memorized the layout of the base, so that was taken care of as well.

He used what little stealth skills that he knew to avoid detection while also making his way towards the little treasury they had. It helped working with bots like Bumblebee and Jazz, who were masters at this kind of thing, and he was using tactics he never thought he would use in his life to make this job a lot easier; look around corners using reflective surfaces to avoid getting caught by surprise, look behind you periodically so you don't get jumped by an unsuspecting guard by mistake (Jazz deemed that the worst and most embarrassing way to get caught), and always put you weight on the heel of your feet to avoid making too much noise with your footsteps. It was all way to intricate and complicated for a bot who got things done by blowing them straight to hell with overwhelming firepower, but Ironhide knew that there were other ways to win battles that didn't include fighting. There was a reason stealth teams were specialists-there wasn't anyone else right for the job.

Finally, Ironhide made it to where Karaba kept their valuables, a small vault that looked no bigger then a bedroom. There was a guard walking by him, so Ironhide snuck up behind him and knocked him out with a quick chop to his throat.

"Sorry, I need your looks for a while." He whispered smirking. He dumped the guard's body in a closet and altered his holomatter so that it was identical to the man he just knocked out. Making sure he got nothing wrong, Ironhide strolled up to where the other guard was ready to get some sleep. "Rough night?"

"I'll say. You'd think we could relax out here in the middle of nowhere, but of course I get stuck with guard duty." The guard yawned.

"Well, I've got things ready here. You go and get some sleep." Ironhide said.

"Thanks man." The guard clapped Ironhide on the shoulder and wobbled his way back to his room. Ironhide mentally apologized to him for all the hell he was about to cause for the poor guy.

Ironhide made sure to wait for a while until he was sure that no one else was coming his way. Fortunately for him, the metal door wasn't fixed with any security measures or even locked, so getting in was easy. With his immense strength, he easily got the door open and hurried inside. There were tons of gold and jewels filling up the vault, along with old weapons mounted on the walls. It all looked very expensive as well as old, and Ironhide wondered if these guys were also involved in grave robbing, but he filed that away for later. Digging through the piles of gold, he quickly found the stasis panel, sitting on a little pillow under a little shrine made of cooled magma, hiding it from view. Apparently it was important enough for Karaba to hide in plain sight to deter people from thinking it's here. Unfortunately for them, Ironhide was thorough.

"Now to get out of this place." Ironhide muttered. As soon as he picked up the panel from its resting place, loud alarms began blaring all around him. Acting on a hunch, he saw an invisible wire tied around the panel and leading to the wall, where there were probably sensors hidden from view. "Of fragging course!"

In another part of the compound, Lorelei marched angrily down the hell, her hair waving around wildly, digging deep gouges into the walls with ease thanks to their tensile strength and sharpness. The alarms had interrupted her beauty sleep and she was not in the mood for any bullshit. Someone was going to get choked by her wicked weave!

"Somebody better tell me what the hell is going on before I start tearing shit up!" Lorelei shouted over the noise.

"Quit whining you harpy!" Gila ran up to her in his lizardman form and hefting an assault rifle on his shoulder. "We've got an intruder in the base and we need to ice that fool now before the captain gets back."

"Who the hell would be stupid enough to sneak into the base?" Lorelei asked. "In fact, how the hell did he get inside in the first place?"

Gila listened to the chatter in his earpiece. "We can ask his corpse when we're done. Look alive, he's coming our way."

Ironhide barreled through the halls like a football player, keeping the panel tucked under him as he bulldozed his way through the Karaba grunts that opened fire on him with the force of an angry bull. The bullets passed harmless through his holomatter, and he was an unstoppable force compared to most of these guys. He didn't even blink as he ran around a corner and was face to face with Gila and Lorelei.

"Wait, aren't you the new guy?" Gila asked surprised. "What the hell dude?"

"Nothing personal kid, just helping out a friend of mine." Ironhide said. "Now step aside and no one will get hurt."

"Like hell I will traitor!" Gila snarled and fired his rifle at Ironhide. Unsurprisingly, except to Gila, the bullets passed through Ironhide's body as the disguised Autobot ran at his adversary. "Fine! I don't need a gun to take you out!"

Gila tossed his gun away and charged at Ironhide, lashing out with his sharp claws. Ironhide ducked under a swing from those lethal talons and jumped up, slamming a knee into the man's face. He felt Gila's nose crunch from the blow and followed up with a strong punch to the jaw that knocked the esper out instantly. But as soon as he touched down, he was forced to duck under a long colorful tendril of hair that almost beheaded him.

Lorelei waved her hair around, slashing at him with her hair that was like steel cords sharp enough to cut through metal. "That was my friend you asshole!"

She split her hair in two whips and spun them to make a drill, digging into the floor as she attacked Ironhide relentlessly. He managed to avoid getting impaled, but a strand left a deep gash in his side from behind and he winced in pain. Any wounds he got in his holomatter could be felt in his real form, and if he was dealt a killing blow, then the results wouldn't bode well for him. So he let a tendril grab his arm and pull him off his feet, but he angled his body so that he was shooting towards Lorelei. She realized too late what he was doing as he planted his feet in her face, using the force gained from the momentum of his short flight to send her crashing into a wall, unconscious with a bleeding face.

"Sorry, but I don't have time for you right now." He said.

He carved a path of limp bodies and destroyed weapons as he made his way towards the exit. He was very grateful that the place couldn't automatically lock itself down or he would've been in big trouble. Ironhide saw one last group of soldiers, three mostly, who were standing between him and freedom. Ironhide had no regrets as he kneed one officer in the face and took the other two out by plowing right into them. He phased through the doors and found himself outside…and in front a platoon of soldiers clad in white Talos armor.

"Or for the love of…!" Ironhide groaned.

"What do you think you're doing?" Adonis, who stood in the front asked in a frosty tone. Gone was the friendly looks he had earlier, his face held the emotionless gaze of a killer. "We offer you sanctuary and this is how you repay us? By stealing our possessions?"

"To be fair, this wasn't yours," Ironhide replied. "You stole it yourselves, so you don't have a right to talk smack to me about theft."

"Don't try to turn this around Hide." Adonis said. "Put the relic down and surrender peacefully. We will not kill you if you do not raise arms against us."

"Yeah, not gonna happen."

Adonis scowled. "This isn't up to negotiation. You're outnumbered and outgunned. There's no one to help you now."

Ironhide smirked. "But I do have someone to help me. Myself."

Ironhide's real form revved up his engine and drove through the front gates. He tore through the village, careful of the scattering villagers as he plowed through the armor clad soldiers, forcing Adonis to jump back. Then, in a severe breach of protocol, Ironhide transformed to robot mode, towering over the awestruck Karaba soldiers with his cannons trained on them. Looking down at Adonis, he gave a smirk.

"Howdy." He said.

Adonis was surprisingly calm. He looked up at the Autobot, then at the holomatter holding the stolen panel. Ironhide saw him start putting the pieces together as he saw the inherent similarities in the features and mannerisms. Adonis huffed and gave the real Ironhide a smirk.

"I don't know what you are, or if you're even real Arron Hide," Adonis said in a low tone. "But if you think I'm going to be intimidated by size alone, then you've made a grave mistake. Behold!"

Adonis' body glowed and vanished behind a cloud of steam that spouted from his body. Ironhide only saw a flash of light before a large fist shot out of the cloud and punched him right in the face. He was sent crashing back through the already ravaged gates and into the village, almost crushing the fleeing people as he fell to the ground. Ironhide grunted as he rubbed his aching jaw and looked up at the thing that punched him.

Adonis was gone, and in his place was a large golden giant a head taller than Ironhide who marched through the destroyed gates and stared down at him with glowing blue eyes. This new form, which Adonis nicknamed Rhodes, was entirely gold from top to bottom, with hard angular features that made him look like a living Grecian statue brought to life. Each step he took sounded like screeching metal that hasn't been used in over a century, rusty and stiff. But Rhodes' movements were fluid as they were fast as well. Ironhide got to his feet and glared the esper.

"I hate espers." Ironhide lamented.

Rhodes shot forward with astounding speed for his size, closing the distance between them in a couple of long strides. He threw a punch at Ironhide, which the Autobot caught in his hand, but followed up with a kick. Ironhide blocked the kick with his arms, grunting as he felt his arms rattle from the strong blow, and grabbed Rhodes' leg, lifting him off the ground and throwing him into one of the houses. Rhodes glared at Ironhide and sprinted forward out of the wreckage. He grabbed Ironhide around his middle and slammed him into the ground, punching him once more in the face before throwing an axe-kick down on him.

Ironhide rolled away so that the kick left a deep hole in the ground and threw a punch at Rhodes. The golden giant caught Ironhide's arm and twisted it behind his back, putting nearly all his strength into tearing the limb off. Ironhide felt his elbow joint groan from the strain and elbowed Rhodes in the face with his other arm, dazing Rhodes long enough so that he could get free. But as he spun around, Rhodes punched Ironhide in the torso hard enough to dent his chestplate and knock the air from his intakes. The Autobot stumbled back, clutching his chest as he glared at Rhodes.

'This isn't going to be easy.' Ironhide thought.

Ironhide wouldn't be having so much trouble fighting Rhodes had his entire focus been on the fight, but he still needed to have his holomatter get out of the area. The faster he did that, the quicker the fight could end. Currently, Ironhide's avatar was making his way towards the narrow canyon that was the valley's only exit. He couldn't call Prime, nor did he have the time to call for a ground bridge. The area was still hot and the last thing he needed was Karaba seeing all of this going on before their very eyes. His form flickered a bit like a bad television reception, the result of Ironhide's wavering concentration. If his avatar destabilized, then the mission was a failure and things would get bad to worse.

But before he could reach the canyon, the ground under his feet erupted into sand, grabbing his arms and legs and lifting him up into the air. The panel dropped at his feet as he was held aloft by the constricting grainy substance. Before him, the cloud spun around into a solidified form that he recognized instantly.

It was Genn. As she couldn't shift her clothes into sand, she was completely bare before him, showing her features from the shoulder up. She was like a dust devil, with her horns and green eyes, sand swirling around her at her command. Her face was etched in a scowl as she glared at him in anger and…betrayal?

"So you were a spy then," She said angrily. "An agent sent by the Azadistans to steal their relic from us. A traitor to your own kind."

"I'm not a spy and I'm not working for anyone," Ironhide grunted, shutting his eyes from the sand hitting his face. "And you can't call me a traitor to a cause I never believed in."

"Then you were just a vagabond looking to make a quick buck. A barbarian no better than the people who took my mother away from me!" Genn shouted. The sand flew more violently around them as her anger grew. "Was it all a lie then? Your friends, your lover, all a lie just to gain my trusts?"

Ironhide didn't know how to explain himself without exposing the Autobots. Genn wasn't in the mood for lies or half-truths right now. If he gave her the wrong answer, he was doomed-both in spirit and in body. He could probably expend some energy to break free, but taking out an esper who could become sand in a heartbeat was hard to deal with. So for once since he came to this planet, Ironhide resolved to solve this problem without using his fists.

"Kid…Genn," Ironhide said. "I never lied to you. I only gave you half the truth about me. I never sought to trick you, but this panel is the heart of something you can't even imagine. You have to believe me. There are things going on that are more than any human or esper on this planet. Bigger things."

Ironhide ducked under a punch from Rhodes and grabbed him around the middle, squeezing hard. Rhodes gave a metallic roar that sounded painful to anyone still near the warzone and began pounding his fists down on Ironhide's back and head. Each hard blow left dents in Ironhide's thick armor, and continued to rattle the Autobot. When Ironhide's grip finally slipped, Rhodes leapt back and kneed him in the face, sending energon spurting from his mouth. Ironhide stumbled back, but was just barely able to dodge Rhodes' outstretched hands as he reached for him.

With a cry, Ironhide threw a kick at Rhodes, who met it with a kick of his own. Their legs collided with enough force to send a strong shockwave rippling through the area, with a resounding boom. Ironhide's leg held strong for a moment, but the force of Rhodes' kick had caused his knee joint to groan and creak. Then to his horror, Ironhide's leg shattered at the knee, causing him to fall to his other knee. But he wasn't out yet, as he shot back up onto his good leg with a yell and landed a punch square in Rhodes' face, knocking the giant esper off his feet.

"What purpose does the relic have to this?" Genn asked. "And what is that robot? Where did it come from? Who made it?"

"This panel does not belong to Karaba or Azadistan. It's no gift from the gods, but a person's survival depends on it." Ironhide answered. He could feel his vision waning, he couldn't hold on anymore. "As for the bot, well…let's just say I'm not human-natural or esper. I'm somethin' else entirely."

Genn looked at him with an unreadable expression then turned to the chaotic battle going on not too far from them. She wanted to discredit Ironhide so badly, think that he was lying just to save his own skin. But something in his eyes told him that he was honest about his words. Something big was going on here.

"Genn," Ironhide continued, not knowing if she was listening or not. "I wasn't lying about what I told you. I do have friends and a lover, but I'm not who you think I am. Lives are at stake not just in Azadistan, but in the entire world. I know I've hurt you, buy you have to trust me. Just this once."

Ironhide's holomatter was visibly flickering now, and Genn's mind was running a mile a minute. She didn't know what to believe or what was going on right now. But she did know that something was going that she didn't know about, and that unsettled her. She figured that he could probably escape her grasp right now, but was unable to. If he really wasn't human, then this changed things entirely. What should she do?

XXXXXX

Ironhide gritted his energon stained teeth as he glared at Rhodes' motionless body. That bastard was hard to take down, and he didn't expect the golden esper to do so much damage to him. Just another grim reminder of how old he was getting. Wonderful.

"Prime," Ironhide said into the comm. "I'm gonna need an assist. I got the panel but I'm damaged."

" _I'm on my way, Ironhide. Just sit tight."_ Optimus replied.

"Oh I'm hanging alright," Ironhide grumbled. "On the fraggin' edge. My head's killin' me."

Ironhide started to get up, but just as he did, Rhode's shot upright, glaring at the Autobot. He leapt to his feet and launched a lightning fast kick that caught Ironhide in the head. He sent the Autobot crashing into another house, but Ironhide grabbed his leg and began using his immense strength to crush it in his grip. Rhodes let out another lour roar and began bashing his fist onto the top of Ironhide's head. Each blow was devastating as was expected. Ironhide's body was densely armored from head to toe, but his head was probably the weakest part. The strong blows he was taking to his cranial unit were not good for his internal components, and any longer the damage to his brain module could become fatal.

Rhodes, who was on the verge of going into a blind rage, raised his fist for another blow when he heard the sound of a truck honking. He looked up just in time to see Optimus Prime transform and fire his ion cannon at his chest. The ion blast that hit him didn't cause fatal damage, but it did hurt severely. It sent him stumbling back a couple of steps, and before he could recover, Optimus fired another shot-this one caught him in the face. Rhodes fell over to the ground, making the area shake and his eyes went dark.

Seeing that the threat had been neutralized, Optimus ran over to Ironhide and helped his friend sit up. "Ironhide. Are you alright?"

Ironhide groaned. His head sported a large dent and one of his optical shutters was shattered from the fight. "You took your sweet time getting here. What the hell?"

"I had to waylay some Karaba reinforcements that were heading your way." Optimus explained. "They were carrying a lot of heavy weaponry for you."

"That's swell." Ironhide grunted. "Let's get that damn panel and haul ass before those bastards come at us with a militia."

Optimus helped Ironhide into a standing position and went over to grab his leg before they made their way out of the now empty village towards the canyon. After making it up the hill, they saw the stasis panel sitting on the ground, where Ironhide's holomatter dropped it after it destabilized. Genn was nowhere to be found.

'Thanks kid,' Ironhide thought. 'Sorry for all the slag I put you through.'

Optimus picked up the panel and called the base. "Ratchet, we're ready for a ground bridge at our location. And standby to a possible limb reattachment."

Ironhide looked at the ravaged village and base one last time as the ground bridge appeared. He sighed and allowed Optimus to help him into the portal, where they disappeared. Once the bridge vanished, the sand on the ground began to swirl in the air as if kicked up by a breeze. The sand flew through the air before rushing into a discarded burka that sat on the ground, reforming into the esper Genn.

"So they aren't human after all." She muttered. "But what does this mean for all of us?"

XXXXXXX

The next morning, reinforcements had arrived to a village and outpost devastated by battle. Sakazuki watched his men get to work on rebuilding the people's homes with a scowl. So many esper under his command required medical after getting stomped on by a single man. Even Adonis was taken out by some robot that posed at Arron Hide's truck. Not to mention the relic they stole was gone as well. How the hell did things go so wrong?

Everything was a mess. Luckily they had a few telekinetics on hand to help with the rebuilding effort, but Sakazuki knew that he had to get to work on fortifying the base after the colossal fight last night. So much work to be done, and with heavy hearts as well. If it turned out that Azadistan was behind this, then the whole operation here would be a disaster.

"Sakazuki," A woman's voice called out sternly. "Is this where it happened?"

"Yes ma'am!" Sakazuki spun around and saluted his leader. "It occurred in the middle of the night, when I was away at the city next over."

The woman he was addressing was a beauty; she had long red hair that glistened in the sunlight and enticing chocolate brown eyes. She wore a dark red body suit with black elbow gloves that hugged her athletic figure. She gave off an aura of authority as she surveyed the damage.

"You said the man's truck became a giant robot?" She asked.

"Yes, according to the witnesses, it had no driver but operated itself." He answered. "Apparently there was another vehicle that did the same thing when it took down Adonis."

The woman scowled. There were no Talos that had that kind of capability and she doubted they were golems either. She didn't know what was going on, and she wasn't a woman who liked being clueless about things like this. "Sakazuki."

"Yes?"

"Reinforce our numbers in Anzu." She ordered, smoke rising from her nostrils. "Find the man you saw yesterday and his two robots by any means necessary. Find out if the Azadistan military had a hand in the creation of those things. If they're innocent, then they have nothing to hide."

"And if they're guilty ma'am?" Sakazuki asked.

Magda Lensherr, co-leader of Karaba, turned to face her subordinate, her eyes glowing with an unholy fire like two miniature suns. "Burn the city to the ground!"


	29. The Morning Star

Chapter 29-The Morning Star

Bumblebee was a bot who was always eager to learn new things. Despite being born smack dab in the middle of a civil war, the death and violence had done nothing to hamper his innate curiosity. Or maybe that was his way of coping with the increasing ferocity of the war? Taking interest in all things that had nothing to do with his own culture or people. It wasn't like there was anything worth looking at back on Cybertron, nearly anything that could be seen as sacred was torched by the Cons in rebellion of the old order. Bumblebee never had any assignments off world either, so Cybertron, or what was left of it, was the only world that he knew.

Which made Terra a very interesting experience for him. Ever since he awakened on this planet, he dedicated most of his free time to learning everything this world had to offer-which was a lot. Terra's history was much more mysterious than he thought. The myth of the Arian empire, the strange beings that the Autobots had been calling the "Angels", all signs that humanity's time on Terra had been interfered with otherworldly beings. Before, this was all just for fun and sating his wonder for all things new, but now he was starting to wonder just how many secrets that Terra was hiding. It was no coincidence that a lot of these encounters had startling similarities to local myths and legends.

Hence why he was spending so much time with the girl genius Gina, his teacher in all things Terran. She had no problem with going out of her way to teach him what she knows, because it was a treat teaching this advanced alien organism about her world and its cultures. Aside from Ratchet, Gina spent a good amount of her free time teaching Bumblebee about human culture and history. Now after all the strange events that happened in the few months they had been operating on this planet, Bumblebee realized that Gina's knowledge on ancient civilizations was coming more and more handy as things started to escalate.

"I still don't get it," Bumblebee said to Gina as they hung out in the command center. The blonde was giving him a quick lecture on Arian science and technology. "If the Arians were extinct for thousands of years, then how were the golems they created still able to move? I almost got killed by two in Airlann and they looked no older than a few years at most."

"That's the catch. No one can really explain how golems work." Gina said. She brought up a photo of a large golem punching a hole into a building. "People all over the world have tried and failed to duplicate the technology used to breathe life into these automatons."

"But aren't they like Talos?" The scout asked.

"Not entirely." Gina replied. She stood up and stretched her stiff legs. "Talos started as semi-humanoid tanks which evolved into powered armor. Golems are full autonomous, like drones. But they were made in a time when there wasn't such a thing as computers or AI. So how were they made and how did they operate? Those are the key questions."

"Perhaps they are some type of primitive AI that modern science has not identified yet." Sara, who had been sitting next to Gina silently until then, spoke up. "The Arians' level of technology was obviously not natural as they were aided by the alien entities that you have battled before."

"Huh, I never thought of that theory." Gina hummed, then smiled. "Though I think that it's a more plausible than some of the other ideas that people have thought up. Like golems were really machines possessed by the spirit of Gaia, or some other evangelical crap like that."

Sara tilted her head a bit to show her confusion. "Gaia?"

"She means that spirit of the planet," Bumblebee explained for Gina. "Gaia is the goddess of Terra, which was named after her. Most humans believe that she created humans from the earth itself and breathed life into them."

"Very good Bee." Gina praised. "You've done your homework."

"It's all so interesting to me. I've been looking this stuff up ever since we got back from Brigadoon." Bumblebee said. "I also know that some humans think that the planet itself is one giant organism, with all life just small parts of one giant biological ecosystem."

"The Gaia Theory." Ratchet walked into the room carrying a datapad. "A very odd but reasonable scientific belief if I so say so myself."

"Hey Ratchet, you got back from patrol?" Gina asked.

"Yes. And as usual, we've come up empty for energon. It's getting harder each day to find a deposit that's bigger than a boulder." Ratchet sighed as he stood before the Teletan-1 terminal.

"You said that the gaia theory is reasonable, but from what I have learned about you, you are not a religious mechanoid." Sara pointed out.

"That's true, Sara, I am a practical mech of science and reason." Ratchet nodded. "But I am merely pointing out that the specifics of the gaia theory is similar to how we Cybertronian see ourselves in relation to Cybertron."

"Oh really?" Gina's eyes sparkled as she looked up at the medic with child-like glee and interest. "Do tell doctor."

Ratchet cracked a smile at her. "As you know, there are many theories that try to explain how the Cybertronian race came into being. Some were realistic while others were a bit outlandish. Our myths are no different. Our oldest legends have us speak of Primus, the god who created Cybertron and her people." Ratchet explained. "Many believe that our Sparks are fragments of Primus, and that upon death our Sparks return to him along with all the information we have attained in life. It's a widely believed myth that pretty much everyone takes seriously, even though they have no proof of Primus' existence."

"I never pegged you to be an atheist, Ratchet." Gina said. Ratchet shrugged.

"In my line of work, it's not believe in gods that save people, it's these." He held up his hands. "If I counted on my religious faith to save my patients, then I would've been discharged by now. Though an old bot like me is getting a bit up there in years."

"No way doc," Bumblebee scoffed. "You're not that old. You're…what?"

"Six million years old?" Gina smiled. "Give or take a few years?"

That made the two Autobots laugh. It was no secret that Ratchet was one of the older members of Team Prime, probably older than Ironhide. The medic himself knew this and liked to joke about it every once in a while, but Gina noticed that look in his eye whenever it came up. That wistfulness that she had seen her grandfather have when they were reminded of their age. That wish to be young again. She wondered if age was as restricting for Cybertronians as it was for humans, though Ratchet seemed to be doing pretty good. On the outside.

Their chat was cut short when Teletran-1 began sending out an alert. " **Alert! Unknown energy reading detected."**

Bumblebee and Ratchet looked at each other. "Looks like break time is over." The scout sighed.

"Well, Sara and I will be getting out of your hair then." Gina said. "Don't want to get in your way."

"Don't worry, Gina. You can stay." Ratchet said.

"Really?"

"Of course, you're a part of this to." Bumblebee told her. Gina smiled brightly at them.

XXXXXXX

Optimus and Prowl stood in front of the monitor analyzing the readings Teletran-1 provided. The computer had detected the readings in central Europa, where it nearly took up an entire province. They didn't know what it meant exactly, but it was strong.

"Teletran is getting the readings from a small province in Grecia," Ratchet said. "Specifically Pythia."

"Do we know what it is?" Prowl asked. The medic shook his head.

"I already had Teletran try to match it with anything in its database, but so far, no matches have come up. We have an anomaly on our hands."

"Do you think it might be energon, Optimus?" Gina asked.

"It's doubtful." Optimus answered. "We still need more information before we can make assumptions-and mobilize."

"I know," Prowl said. "Every time an anomaly like this appears, it usually leads to…" He trailed off as he realized what it meant. The other occupants in the room also made the same connection.

"I had Jetfire flying over the area." Ratchet said. "According to Comettor's scans, these readings are almost identical to the ones we found in Airlann and Midgard."

"But that's where Annie, Bulkhead and Ironhide encountered those…things and were almost killed." Gina pointed out. "And where we found that ancient transporter thing that sent us to Brigadoon."

"Which is why we need to act carefully." Optimus said. "Now that we know what to expect from mysterious happening like this, we need to be cautious, lest we end up triggering another event like our previous altercation on the island."

"From what I have seen, anomalies like this are connected to places humans have originally inhabited. Like a derelict city or a place of worship." Prowl deduced. He looked down at Gina. "Is there anything special in Pythia, Gina? Like a shrine or the site of some major battle?"

Gina was already looking up the place on her laptop before he even finished his question. "Pythia is a special place. It used to be a large city-state that was home to the Oracle. That's a woman who is said to tell one's future by communing with the gods. There aren't any other significant things about the place that I can tell, but if it helps, the Oracle resided in a cave underground, and people had to climb down into the underground cave network in order to speak with her."

"That is helpful Gina." Optimus said thankfully. "Prowl, assemble a strike team and head to Pythia at once. Jetfire will be at your position in a few minutes. We need to know if the source of this transmission is another powerful weapon or a being like Fortitudo."

"Yes, Prime." Prowl nodded and went for the door.

"Good luck, Prowl!" Gina cheered.

Though she didn't see it, her words of encouragement made Prowl crack a smirk.

XXXXXXX

Starscream stood before the door to Megatron's quarters, where the Decepticon leader had ordered to meet with him in order to have a private "chat". That didn't make the Seeker commander any less nervous, because private chats away from prying eyes tend to end in one of the two speakers getting silently disposed off without any fanfare. Damn it, Knockout had him paranoid after talking ceaselessly about old human crime movies. Curse that "Godfather" whoever he was!

No one had been in Megatron's quarters-without permission of course. Aside from Nightshade and Soundwave, no one had even dared to glimpse into the warlord's personal abode, but here he was. Standing on the event horizon. Starscream took a deep breath to settle his rapidly pulsating Spark and knocked twice on the door.

"L-lord Megatron?" He called out, cursing his stutter. "It's is I, your loyal air commander."

The door slid open, revealing a dark room. "Enter Starscream."

Starscream almost gulped but he forced his body to move forward into the room. When the door shut behind him, he was cloaked in darkness, barely able to see. It was dark, but Starscream could make out a recharge slab, a large desk with a computer monitor on it and behind that desk, what looked like a large, white wing that was black in some places. Starscream thought he saw a wing like that before, but he wasn't sure.

There was no light in the room save for the glow coming from the monitor that was on Megatron's desk. Of course, the glow reflected off Megatron's armor, making him the brightest thing in the room. But the light didn't reach his face, so Starscream could only see his red eyes glaring at him from afar. He hated how even small gestures like this could still make Megatron look like death incarnate.

"Starscream," The Con straightened up as Megatron addressed him. "Do you know why I called you here?"

"No, Megatron, I do not." He answered. "I assume it's something important?"

"Yes, you could say that." Megatron said. "I have a task for you, one that I think suits your skill set quite nicely."

"Really?" Starscream looked excited, but quickly schooled himself. "I mean, oh really?"

"Yes. You see, Soundwave just detected an energy anomaly in Europa, near the edge of the Grecian subcontinent by the Andar sea." Megatron brought up a holo-map of the region and pointed to the area near the body of water. "One that is similar to the readings that came from Nightshade's weapon, Gandiva."

"And you believe that it's another weapon like it?" Starscream inquired. He hoped that was the case. A weapon on par with one like Gandiva might be his ticket to gaining the power to match Megatron, maybe even surpass him.

"I'm not making any assumptions until we know what exactly we're dealing with." He said, leaning back in his seat.

"Of course, my lord," Starscream bowed his head, smirking. "I will complete this task with the utmost diligence."

"Oh, that's not the task I've assigned to you, Starscream, just the mission." Megatron revealed. He held back a smirk at Starscream's bewildered expression.

"Excuse me?"

"This is something less hazardous, but no less important. I want you to keep an eye on a certain individual for me, and keep them in line if need be. I'm sure you already know who I'm talking about."

Megatron pressed a button and the holo-display changed to reveal footage from the camera feed. It showed a certain two wheeler sneaking out of the energon storage vault with a couple of energon cubes in hand.

"Flamewar?" Starscream cried out. "You want me to be that witch's warden?"

Megatron didn't hide his smirk this time. "I told you it suited your skill set."

XXXXXXX

Jetfire stood on the edge of the steep cliffs looking out into the horizon. It was nearing dusk now, and the sun was a brilliant orange orb sinking into the ocean, bathing its reflective surface in a warm glow. He was always a sucker for wonderful sights like this, it reminded him of the great views he would get from flying over Cybertron early in the morning or at sundown. Nothing beats watching the world at twilight.

"It's quite the sight, isn't it?" Jetfire asked Comettor, who sat on his shoulder.

"It certainly is." Comettor agreed.

"Reminds of that time I sent my leave from the Seekers in Ky-Alexia. Spent all night whooping ass in the casinos. By the time dawn came around, they kicked me out for being too good, and then I was fortunately enough to see the sunrise." Jetfire sighed wistfully. "It was something I'd never forget. It actually got me to move to the place."

"You moved to Ky-Alexia?" Comettor looked up at Jetfire in shock. "But I thought all Seekers lived in Vos? Wasn't that like a brotherhood cult thing?"

"Yeah, it's true. You were born in Vos and died in Vos." Jetfire shrugged. "But the Seekers were being led by Deadscream back then, and she was a few Primes short of a Matrix."

"Sight-seeing's over Autobots, time to get to work." Prowl said as he, Wheeljack and Bumblebee stepped out of the ground bridge. "And I thought you were supposed to run air recon Jetfire?"

"For what? The bloody energy sig is everywhere!" Jetfire waved his arms around at their surroundings. "Comettor already tried to get a fix on its origin point, but he's got nothin'."

Prowl just sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Just keep watch for any Decepticons then. You can at least do that, can you?"

"Yes sir, Prowler. We're on it." Jetfire and Comettor transformed and took to the sky, blowing dust in Prowl's face as he did so.

Bumblebee grumbled about reckless Seekers and looked over at Bumblebee, who was standing on top a hill scanning the area. "Bee, did you find anything?"

"Nope, and Jolt isn't finding anything either." Bumblebee said. "There's nothing out of the ordinary here."

"That's how it always is, but we've got to be vigilant." Prowl said. "We need to look into every detail of this place, not matter how small."

He remembered how Gina had said this city was the home of the Oracle, a sacred seer that was practically worshipped as the voice of the gods. Of course, Prowl didn't put much stock in that story, as he figured that the Oracle was an esper with precognition powers. If there was one thing he learned from traveling around this world, it was that history was not so passive as one would think it would be. If you knew where to look, there were surprises right around the corner. And some of them weren't so welcome to people stumbling across them.

"You know what would be nice?" Jolt asked as he landed on Bumblebee's shoulder. "If we actually knew what the hell we were looking for. I'm getting sick of flying circles up here trying to get a damn reception. The whole area's a hot zone for crying out loud!"

"I'm certainly not crazy for fighting another two-headed dragon, Jolt." Wheeljack said. "But you're right. We need to narrow down our search. Any ideas, Prowl?"

"Working on it." Prowl said in a tone that told Wheeljack to keep quiet and let the former PI do his thing.

Prowl had noticed how intimately connected these events were to sights that were of great importance to humans both past and present. El Dorado, the Aesir temple in Midgard, the stone ring in Airlann, even that brief event on Crete; all sights of battles and anomalies that occurred in places once inhabited by ancient humans, who obviously had contact with their fair share of otherworldly beings. So if they wanted to find what they were looking for, then they had to think along that line of thought.

'And Pythia's most important element is its oracle.' Prowl thought. "I think I have it."

"Well, don't be a stranger. Tell us what's up." Jolt said.

"We need to think back to how other missions of this nature turned out. Whenever we detect these anomalies, it leads us to places of great significance." Prowl explained. "And what is important about Pythia?"

"It's oracle." Bumblebee answered, getting what Prowl was trying to say.

"Exactly. Gina said that the oracle's abode was located in a cave of some sort, so we should start looking for ways underground. No doubt that is where the energy is coming from."

The three Autobots went in separate directions, looking for any hidden tunnels or passageways that might have been covered by the ravages of time and nature after they fell out of use. Bumblebee and Jolt stayed close to the wall that ran along the edge of the cliff, made by human hands and a little taller than the scout himself. Its purpose for being there is unknown, and probably will be for a long time, but at least it provided a border to keep wayward travelers from falling to their deaths.

"What do you think we'll find at the end of all this?" Jolt asked. "If we find anything at all."

"I don't know. After everything we've experienced, it's hard to expect anything anymore." Bumblebee replied. "Maybe we might find a powerful weapon of our own, like Nightshade's bow, or Mjolnir. It'd be nice to have some sweet firepower on our side for once."

"You could say that again." Jolt nodded. Then he noticed something strange in the wall. "Whoa. What's that?"

Jolt was pointing at the cave opening in the stone wall. There was a neat little staircase that led downward into the darkness, which was coincidentally large enough for a bot Bumblebee's size to crawl through if he tried. But what was strange was that there was nothing but open air on the other side of the wall, and yet here this cave was, going deep into the earth.

"That was not there before." Bumblebee said.

Jolt looked in the cave, not brave enough to step a foot through the entrance. And he didn't like the ominous feeling he was getting from the dark interior. "So…who wants to go in first?"

"Maybe we should call the others first." The scout suggested, putting a hand into the cave. The air felt a lot cooler than it should be, making his hackles rise. "None of this looks natur-ahhh!"

An unseen force took hold of Bumblebee's outstretched hand and effortlessly dragged him into the cave. Startled, Jolt ran after him, but was knocked back by an invisible barrier over the entrance. He watched helplessly as his partner vanished into the darkness in seconds, calling for help.

"Bumblebee!"

XXXXXXXX

"Ow." Bumblebee groaned as he sat up, rubbing his head. "What hit me?"

He stood up and brushed the dirt from his body and looked around. He was inside a large cave that had pale blue crystals jutting up from the rocky walls and the ground. It wasn't energon, but it wasn't hephaestium either-not that he knew of. These crystals were something else, something much more potent than the mineral that the humans use to power their machines. Bumblebee could tell just from standing near them that they were different. They felt energized, as if charged with electricity. Seeking to return to the surface, Bumblebee turned around, expecting to find the staircase behind him, but only saw a dead end.

"Slag." He muttered. He had no idea where he was, and his only exit was nowhere to be found. He keyed his communicator and called Jolt. "Jolt, this is Bumblebee, do you read me?" He got no reply, not even static. "Jolt? Oh for Primus' sake."

The yellow Autobot glared at the crystals, thinking that they were the reason he was getting no reception, along with being too deep underground. He remained calm, but something about the crystals, the general feel of them, made him a bit uneasy.

"Come on, Bee. You've been in worse situations than this." He told himself. "Remember your training. Just find an opening that will lead you to the surface so you can find your friends."

" _Your friends cannot help you now, alien."_ A raspy voice intoned, causing Bumblebee to jump.

Bumblebee spun around, drawing his blaster. "Who said that?!"

There was silence, with no indication that anyone besides Bumblebee had spoken. Then the voice returned, " _Deeper…"_

The scout felt something tugging on his mind in the direction of the only other entrance to the cave he was in. Of course, Bumblebee was wary of moving at the behest of a creepy disembodied voice, but he had no options right now. Cursing his circumstances, he walked into the tunnel lined with smaller crystals in its earthen walls, lighting his way.

Thankfully it wasn't a long walk before he found himself in a larger cave, one drastically different. Here the crystals were snow white, and it helped increase his visibility here, but the yellow Autobot had no idea what he was looking at.

In the center of the cavern was a tall figure that was encased in a tightly wound cocoon of chains around its body. Bumblebee couldn't make out its form, but judging from its vaguely human-like face it had to be male. His skin was like granite, cracked and chipped in some places, most notably around the eyes, which were sunken and hollow like an actual skull, and had no eyeballs-just two small lights that burned in its sunken head like miniature suns.

" _So you came after all,"_ The being said, dust venting from its mouth, though its cracked lips did not move. _"As_ _I knew you would. They always come when they hear my voice."_

'Oh boy.' Bumblebee thought and tried to think of something to say. It would be best to start with something simple. "Um, hi. I'm Bumblebee. An Autobot."

" _I know what you are, visitor. Fortitudo's death at the hands of your people has reverberated throughout the world. It is no easy feat to defeat a Cardinal like that."_

"How do you know that?"

" _These crystals,"_ He answered. " _They are an extension of my senses. What they see and hear, I do as well."_

Bumblebee did not know what to do in this situation. It was clear that this…thing was of the same ilk as Foritudo and his legions, but he wasn't trying to smite him where he stood just for thinking in his presence. Maybe it was the chains, which glowed a bit whenever their prisoner tried to move even a twitch. Bumblebee then realized that maybe this was a blessing in disguise. Here was an obviously powerful being restrained before him, and he was still in one piece. This might be a good time to get some answers.

"Hey, chain guy. I have some questions for you," He said. "And I am not leaving until I get a solid answer."

" _That is fine. It is not like you can leave on your own otherwise, either."_

Bumblebee ignored that remark. "What are you?"

The being took a moment to speak before answering, " _An angel."_

And already they were on a bad start. Angels didn't exist, and he knew that this guy was no angel. Still, it was something. He'll worry about the details later. "Okay then. Next question, and don't try to slag me, pal." He said sternly. "What is your name?"

"… _Lucifer."_

XXXXXXX

"Only Bumblebee could find something this strange and get in trouble immediately afterwards." Wheeljack sighed as he studied the cave, tapping on the barrier.

"Poor kid. Went out the lamest way in Autobot history." Jetfire said. "Oh well, I'll carve out his tombstone."

"He's not dead you moron!" Jolt yelled. "But he might be in trouble. Can you guys help him?"

Prowl hummed in thought and fired his blaster at the cave. The bolt bounced off the barrier and hit a tree, splitting it in two. "This is new. Wheeljack, have you found anything out?"

"Only that the barrier is not the product of any machine. I'm getting no readings from any hidden shield generators or hard-light projectors." Wheeljack said.

"That's not helping us Jackie, we need to know something we can do." Jetfire said. "Don't you guys have countermeasures for this kind of thing?"

"Yes, for shields made from existing technology." Wheeljack answered. "This isn't technology. Something or someone's keeping this thing active, and doesn't want anyone else dropping in on them."

"Wonderful." The Autobot flyer sighed. Comettor then had an idea.

"I think I have a solution." He said, and explained his plan. "Energy barriers usually run on a set amount of energy in order to maintain their integrity. But they have to expend even more to maintain their structural integrity under heavy fire, eventually burning out after a few minutes if that fire doesn't let up."

"So if we combine our power, then we can cause the barrier to drain its energy and fall apart?" Wheeljack finished. He rubbed his chin, nodding. "That's a sound plan."

"It sounds a bit far-fetched, but it's not like we have a choice." Prowl motioned for the other mechs to raise their weapons and point them at the mouth of the cave. "We fire on my signal. Three…two…one…"

The area was suddenly set aflame by a hail of missile fire that littered the ground with large explosions that forced the Autobots to take evasive action. They looked to the sky to see Starscream, Thundercracker and Skywarp land on the ground in unison, pointing their arm-mounted cannons at the Autobots.

"Don't even think about it Autobots." Starscream warned, aiming his powerlinked null cannon at Prowl. "You're outnumbered and outgunned. Just give up."

"Did you forget to count as well as fight, Starscream? It's 3 v 3, equal opportunities to slag all three of you." Jetfire said.

A black shape shot up from behind the wall, from the steep cliffs and came at Prowl from behind. It was only thanks to a pulse blast from Wheelack that Prowl was spared from a fatal attack to his head. Flamewar flipped over Prowl and landed on the Autobot's right.

"As I said," Starscream smirked. "Outnumbered."

Unshaken by how close he nearly came to getting killed, Prowl fired the first shot at Starscream. The Seeker ducked under the bolt and fired a null blast that grazed Prowl's shoulder. This ignited the firefight that sent both sides scattering amidst a storm of lasers and missiles. Thundercracker and Skywarp caught sight of Starscream's hand motion to attack and they charged at Prowl. Skywarp tried to get to Prowl first, but Thundercracker jumped in front of him and began fighting the Autobot.

"What the hell man?" Skywarp yelled. He saw Jetfire charging at him and grinned. "Hey Jetfire. I gotta repay you for sucker punching me back at Alaska!"

Skywarp teleported behind Jetfire and fired his cannons, but Jetfire ignored the mercury tipped bullets hitting his torso and spun around, firing his particle cannon at Skywarp's chest. Skywarp warped to avoid the attack, but just as he reappeared, Jetfire was right in his face and began pelting him with a series of punches that knocked him into a couple of trees.

"I thought I told you," Jetfire cracked his neck. "Don't use that trick on someone who knows how to fight it. Not that brightest tool in the shed, are ya?"

"Then perhaps I can be a challenge to you."

Flamewar came at Jetfire from behind and stabbed a pair of daggers into Jetfire's arms. The daggers released a strong electrical shock into Jetfire's nervous system that brought the Autobot to his knees, twitching from the jolts running through his circuitry. She then fired an energy net at his face that blinded him and left him open to attack.

"You think you can take him now?" She asked Skywarp.

"Shut up." Skywarp growled. He pointed his arm cannons at his former partner, but he had no chance to fire his cannons as two rocket shells hit him in the right arm and head. He cried out as he felt his metal skin start to sting and smoke and realized that he was doused with acid. "Slag!"

Flamewar felt something wrap around her leg and she was lifted off her feet. Wheeljack twirled his energo-whip, swinging Flamewar around before slamming her into the air. When he started t drag her back towards him, Flamewar cut the whip and used the momentum to send her flying towards him. She planted her feet in his face, but Wheeljack grabbed her back armor panels and threw her away. She used a tree branch to regain her balance and land on the ground with the grace of a gymnast.

"You're a good dance partner for a techie." She smirked.

"You should see me on Friday nights." Wheeljack retorted.

Prowl fought Thundercracker and Starscream at the same time with Jolt providing support. His rifle lay on the ground in half and all he had was an electrified baton that he used only for melee combat. Fighting both Seekers at the same time was difficult, if he wasn't trying to avoid getting decapitated by Thundercracker's bayonets, then he was actively avoiding Starscream's null blasts that he fired with startling accuracy.

Prowl ducked under Thundercracker's sword arm and jammed his baton into the Con's underside, sending violent jolts running through the Seeker's body. But Thundercracker, who was no stranger to pain, braved through it and grabbed Prowl's arm, pulling the Autobot towards him and punching him in the face. He tried to gore Prowl through with his bayonets, but Prowl grabbed his arms and kept the blades at bay. Meanwhile, Starscream was getting into position to take the Autobot out for good.

'Even if we fail the mission now,' He thought. 'At least I will be able to kill one of Prime's more dangerous lackies.'

He aimed his null ray at Prowl and waited for his weapon to fully charge for a kill shot. Prowl noticed this at the last minute and pushed himself out of the grapple, gaining a slash to the chest for his risky maneuver. He spun Thundercracker around and held him in a full nelson, using his body as a shield just as Starscream fired his null ray. The blast hit Thundercracker in the chest, but the EMP current washed over both of them. Having got the brunt of the blast, Thundercracker crumpled to the ground motionless, his body having gone into stasis. Prowl was still conscious, but he had little control over his limbs and he fell to his knees, suffering from what humans would equate to muscle spasms.

"Sorry Thundercracker, but you know what they say. The mission comes first." Starscream smirked. He walked over to Prowl. "And as for you…"

"No!" Jolt flew in and began pelting Starscream's head and shoulders with his artillery cannons. The Con tried to backhand him out of the air, but Jolt skillfully avoided the larger bot's limbs.

"How cute, the Minicon thinks he can make a difference." Starscream sneered and tried to take Jolt out with his null ray.

'Come on, Bee,' Jolt thought. 'Where are you?'

XXXXXXX

"How long were you trapped down here?" Bumblebee asked.

The being known as Lucifer gazed down at the yellow Autobot under him. "You talk loudly for one so small, alien."

"Answer the question!" He yelled. He was getting sick of this game he was playing.

"I do not know how long I was stuck down here. All I know is that this cave was once the abode of a human woman who could tell the future. She thought her visions, as violent and withering as they are, were messages from the gods." Lucifer chuckled. "If she knew the truth about her gods, she would've killed herself on the spot. Ancient humans had no idea of the power we had bestowed upon them. Espers, mutants, different names, same thing."

Bumblebee was trying really hard to understand what he was talking about, but most of it was going over his head. "Why were you imprisoned here?"

"That I can answer. I was put down here for trying to overthrow the Supreme Authority. The Mother of all, in all her glory. I sought to set my people free, and lead them to a future unbound by the chains and restrictions placed upon us by our Queen."

"A rebellion."

"Yes, one that I led myself. I had convinced a third of Her Host to join me in fighting for our freedom, and we were nearly an unstoppable force that even the four Cardinals could not match." Lucifer chuckled bitterly. "I was such a fool back then. To raise arms against a Queen. I would have a better chance fighting death itself. The fury with which she had struck her down was divine. I have never forgotten the terror that I felt then, even after all these centuries."

Lost in his memories, Lucifer's power leaked from his body ad began to fill the cave, enveloping Bumblebee. The scout stumbled back as his mind was very briefly linked with Lucifer's, thus allowing him to see the demigod's memories of the even that he spoke of. He saw flashes, short clips of those same stone creatures that he fought back on Brigadoon. Many were the bird-like Affinities and the hulkish Braves, but some were also humanoid, clad in red and gold armor wielding swords as long as their bodies. The whole battlefield was just a chaotic slaughter of angels killing each other for reasons Bumblebee could only dream of. It was like seeing a life angelic mural, with beings of light arranged in a circle around a shining light, like a star, in the center.

Then he saw Lucifer, who was flying towards the center, his slender body shining like a star. He raised his arm to throw a spear, but from the sun at the center, a large feminine hand that was as large as Lucifer's body reached out to him and bathed him in a blindingly white light. Then he felt pain erupt all over his body.

"Stop it!" Bumblebee cried out. Suddenly the vision cut off and he was back in the cave with the imprisoned Lucifer, his body smoking and still feeling the dull pain in his very being. "Ngh."

"My apologies. I can barely control my body these days. Had you been a human, you would've gone insane by now." Lucifer said. "But this is the power that you fight against alien. Our numbers may be low, and we may slumber in the bowels of the earth, but we still surpass you. You cannot fight against the Legion-not against Her."

Bumblebee tried to control his shaking body, and partially succeeded. He stared up at Lucifer, not with fear, but with loathing. "What the hell are you?"

"Haven't you been listening?" Lucifer's voice was mocking. "I am an angel."

A soft, barely audible boom could be heard from up top, an explosion. Lucifer hummed as he felt something pound against his barrier on the surface. More aliens.

"It seems there is a battle going on near my cave. Friends of yours, perhaps?" He asked. Bumblebee did not answer, but he knew it was true. "I see. Very well, in that case I will have to ask you to leave. I do not want intruders destroying my land with their petty squabbles."

"Wait! I'm not finished yet!" Bumblebee shouted.

"Oh, but you are." Lucifer said. "And just to make sure your friends know how serious I am…"

Lucifer's eyes glowed even brighter, increasing in intensity until Bumblebee was forced to close his eyes. He felt the warm light wash over him, searing into every pore of his body. Then he felt something entering his mind…no, someone.

"Time to see how much the world has changed after a millennia."

XXXXXX

Prowl leapt up and grappled with Starscream, forcing the null ray away from Jolt. Starscream growled and tried to shake him off, but Prowl had a tight hold on his arms.

"You're already weakened by my first shot, Prowl!" He said. "Just give up and hand over the weapon!"

"There is no weapon!" Prowl replied. "We haven't found a damn thing since we got here."

"Lies!" Starscream kicked Prowl in the chest and stabbed his bayonet into the Autobot's shoulder, pinning him to the ground. He shoved the null ray into Prowl's face and sneered. "Something is causing this anomaly and you know what it is, so tell me!"

Jetfire saw Starscream holding Prowl at gunpoint and raised his particle cannon at the Seeker. As he took aim, he hoped that he didn't sear Prowl's face off as he started to pull the trigger. But someone else beat him to the punch.

A beam of light was fired from the cave and hit Starscream in the chest. Starscream not only felt the beam nearly burn a hole to his Spark core, he could feel the beam ignite a searing pain all over his body. He screamed in agony and fell to his back, writhing on the ground as if it would dull the pain. Prowl looked up and saw someone walk out of the appearance of this newcomer caused all fighting in the area to cease at once. Bots and Cons alike turned towards the cave and saw a figure step out into the fading sunlight. Jolt, who was attending to Prowl, saw him first and thought that it was his partner. He was not wrong in that regard, but the scout was not alone.

The yellow Autobot was back in the outside world, but he was not himself. His body, his essence, was being controlled by Lucifer. Bumblebee's form was eclipsed by Lucifer's taller, radiant form-a humanoid body that sported a beautiful masculine appearance, with skin like white marble, hair that shined like gold and eyes that glittered like diamonds. His human-like face gazed up at the sun and smiled.

"The sun, the moon, the earth," He laughed. "How glorious to be able to see you all again, even for just a moment."

Jolt was almost too scared to speak, but he forced himself to stand strong. "Bumblebee?" He jumped a little when Lucifer's star-like gaze fell onto him.

"I will only say this once, aliens," Lucifer said in a booming tone, his voice overlapping Bumblebee's. "Leave this place, for it is under my control. Take your war to some other domain, far from ere. I'm trying to sleep."

"This land doesn't belong to you." Prowl said. "It belongs to humanity."

Lucifer smiled and knelt down to Prowl's level, looking at him as if he were a child who didn't know any better. "That's what you think-Prowl, was it? I'm trying to be nice here. The others, they aren't as nice as me, they'll kill you on the spot. But I'm slightly more sympathetic to you all. So run on home before I decide to get rough."

"And if we don't listen to you, bub?" Skywarp foolishly asked. "Decepticons never run from a battle!"

'And people wonder why I quit the Decepticons in the first place.' Flamewar thought. She slowly backed away as Lucifer stood up, eyes flaring.

All he had to do was flinch and his aura flared up, bathing the area in a blinding light, like a star about to go nova. Flamewar actually thought that he was going to do just that and figured that she had enough of this.

"Skywarp, grab the other two morons and warp us out of here!" She ordered.

"No way sister, we're not run-" Flamewar grabbed Skywarp and shoved her crossbow under his chin.

"We are leaving now, or you're gonna be short one brain module!" She sneered. "Now go!"

Skywarp obeyed her, not wanting to have his head blown off. He teleported Flamewar away first, before returning for Starscream and Thundercracker. Once the Cons were gone, Lucifer turned his attention to Jetfire and Wheeljack, who were pointing their weapons at him,

"We're not going anywhere without the little guy." Jetfire said.

Lucifer smiled. "You may have him. My work is done here," He looked up at the sun once more just before it fully sank into the horizon. "So beautiful and serene. I wonder how long will it be before your war sets it all on fire."

Lucifer's body released another flash of light that forced the Autobots to cover their eyes. When the flash faded away, all that was left was an unconscious Bumblebee smoke rising from his body. Prowl ran over to the scout and looked him over, flinching back after laying a hand on him. He was very hot, like he just got out of atmospheric entry.

"Is he alright?" Jolt asked.

"Yes, Bee's fine. But we need Ratchet to look him over." Prowl said. "And I need to report to Prime about this."

Prowl looked up at the cave, only to see solid rock. The cave was gone, replaced by the stone wall. Any sign of it, and Lucifer, was gone, as if they never existed in the first place.

XXXXXXX

Megatron sat still in his seat as Starscream and Flamewar gave their report on the events that transpired on the mission. He didn't say anything the entire time, and it slightly unnerved the two Cons, who were expecting him to lose his cool at some point in the debriefing. Once Starscream finished his report, he tried to save face by slandering Flamewar.

"As you can see, Megatron," Starscream said. "We failed to retrieve anything of value. No thanks to that entity and Flamewar's cowardice."

"I only did what was necessary to survive, lord Megatron," Flamewar said calmly. She knew she was not at fault here. "After seeing how effortlessly the being took out Starscream with a single attack, I was not going to let our entire team be at its mercy. Better to run and fight another day."

"How dare you blame this on me!" Starscream hissed, but a glare from Megatron stopped him before he could let his anger take hold.

"For once in your life, Starscream, you are not at fault here, and neither are you Flamewar." Megatron said. "It is clear that the anomaly was a lure to draw us there. Why, I doubt we will find out, but I do know that no one won today. Dismissed."

Starscream and Flamewar bowed their heads and made to leave the bridge, but Megatron gave Starscream some parting words.

"Oh, and Starscream? I would adivse steering clear of Thundercracker for a few hours. He is in a bad mood thanks to your little friendly fire incident."

The scowl on Starscream's face as he left certainly made Megatron's day. The Seeker commander only served to shoot himself in the foot if he continued to do stunts like that on his Seekers. The more he blundered, the more loyal his supposed brothers became to Megatron. In the end, Starscream will be left alone in his attempts to gain power, and Megatron couldn't wait to see it all crumble around him. It would be poetic for him to die at the hands of an ally just like his accursed sister.

But there were more pressing concerns to worry about. This was another event in their growing list of contacts with the angelic beings. This was happening more often than he would've liked, and Megatron didn't like it one bit. This was building towards something and he did not like how little information they had on these beings. Seeing as how intimately connected they were to Terra's past, Megatron figured that it would be prudent to investigate humanity's relationship with these so-called angels.

He wasn't going to let a bunch of talking statues that think they're gods get in his way of conquering the Autobots and this planet!

XXXXXXXX

Optimus listened patiently to Bumblebee's account of the day's events. The scout was sitting in the med bay, having just gotten out of a diagnostic check-up from Ratchet. Thankfully, he was healthy as a lamb, and had suffered no visible side effects from the unexpected possession. He couldn't remember what happened after his little chat with Lucifer, but Jolt was kind enough to fill him in on the blanks. Once he was done, Optimus and Ratchet discussed things on the side.

"The power of these angels is starting to concern me." Ratchet said.

"You're not the only one, old friend." Optimus nodded. "And this encounter only raises more questions than answers. But is Bumblebee really alright, Ratchet?"

"He'll be fine after getting some rest." Ratchet assured him. "But he's still a bit weak, so keep the conversations to a minimum please."

"I will. Thank you." Optimus turned to Bumblebee, who was sitting on the berth, lost in thought. "How are you feeling Bumblebee?"

"Tired, mostly, and a bit…shaken." Bumblebee said, rubbing his head. "He was in me, Optimus. He controlled my body, my mind…and he was so powerful."

"I know, Bumblebee. These angels are becoming more dangerous than we originally thought." Optimus shook his head. "Their powers are beyond what I had expected from physical beings."

Bumblebee was quiet for a few minutes, trying to gather his thoughts. There was a question hanging on the tip of his vocoder, but he couldn't bring himself to say it. But Optimus could see right through him and he asked what was on his mind.

"Optimus, do you believe in gods?"

"Excuse me?" Optimus wasn't expecting that question.

"I've seen Lucifer's memories, and I've seen just what kind of force we're dealing with. These things are regular creatures Optimus, their powers are immense and the way they operate," Bumblebee let out a frustrated huff. "It's like seeing those gods from the humans' folklore just come to life. It's scary."

"Bumblebee, I hold the Matrix of Leadership in my chest. It is said to hold a fragment of Primus' Spark within it, and it carries great power. But that doesn't mean I believe in Primus. Only that there may be a higher power that holds dominion over all our fates." Optimus said. "Vector Sigma, the Matrix, the Thirteen Primes, all beings of great power, but are not gods. These angels may be powerful, but they are not gods. That is just a delusion that they have made for themselves to justify subjugating lesser beings. They are mortal and vulnerable to death. Don't let your fear of them control you, Bumblebee, or they've already won."

Bumblebee nodded. "Okay. Thank, Optimus."

"Anything for a friend." Optimus patted the scout on the shoulder. "Jolt, make sure Bumblebee gets some rest."

Jolt saluted. "Yes sir!"

Optimus chuckled and left the med bay, heading towards his quarters. But his mirth died down as Bumblebee's question rang in his mind. It wasn't that he didn't believe in gods, it was that he wished that there wasn't. If there was a god to created their race, some abstract creator who sowed the seeds of strange life forms in the universe, then Optimus thought that they would weep at how far their precious children had fallen.


	30. Into the Blue

Chapter 30-Into the Blue

Gina stood before the massive door that led to Optimus's quarters. The Autobot leader had called the young girl to meet with him after she got out of school and she was a little nervous. Why would Optimus want to speak with her in private? Did she do something wrong? Was he mad at her for trying to make energy weapons from the Talos' armaments in secret? She knew that Rollbar couldn't be trusted, the loudmouth. Gina hoped that Optimus didn't learn about the "boom-stick".

"Uh, Optimus," Gina called out. "I'm here."

"Come in, Gina." Optimus said from inside.

The door slid open for her and she entered the room…with Sara right behind her. The excessively paranoid bioroid (whatever that was) hovered over her shoulder like a second shadow whenever she was in the Ark or on a mission with the Autobots, treating everything and everyone with a certain degree of suspicion. At first Gina thought it was cute, but now it was getting annoying, but no matter what she said, Sara was very persistent in protecting her from any perceived "threat". At this point, she had quit trying to stop of the robo-girl from doing her apparent "job", though that hasn't stopped Penny from making a few jokes at her expense.

Gina took a quick look around the room. Prime's quarters didn't look any different from the other Autobots' rooms, though it was a little bit bigger due to it being the captain's quarters and such. It wasn't as decorated as she thought it would be, though Optimus wasn't the sort to keep a case full of trophies or mount antique weapons on his wall like some (Annie) would do. The place was humble, just like its occupant, and the soft orchestra music in the background helped calm her nerves somewhat.

"Here I am, Optimus," Gina said to the red and blue giant standing near his desk. "Sorry about Sara. She wouldn't let me go even for a second."

"That's all right, Gina. It's no problem." Optimus said. He walked over to the girls and held his hand out to them. Gina and Sara stepped into his palm and he lifted them up with a gentleness that only Prime could have. He carried them over to his desk and deposited them on its smooth, reflective surface. "Are you comfortable?"

"Yes I am, thank you." Gina smiled. He was always thinking about their well being. "I never pegged you for an orchestra lover."

"Classical music is something I've just begun to listen to in my spare time." He told her, sitting in his chair. "I find that I relax better when I'm listening to it. It seems that's the only way I get truly settle down these days."

"You wanted to speak to Ms. Gina about something," Sara rudely cut in, staring up at Optimus with glassy emerald eyes. "So speak."

"Sara!" Gina scolded her robotic shadow. "Be nice! He's a friend."

Optimus still wondered just who built Sara. She was obviously not of Terran origin, she was far to advanced for anything that even the likes of OZ could produce. But her technological aspects faintly echoed Cybertronian influences. Where she came from, who built her, and why she was on Terra in the first place was something that Sara guarded with her life and refused to tell anyone. Her interest in Gina was also very curious, though Optimus doubted that she would provide an answer for that as well. At this point, she was just another strange discovery made on this planet. What else was surprising?

"Gina," Optimus began, drawing the blonde's attention to him. "From what Ratchet tells me, you're very knowledgeable in ancient history."

"Well, it depends on what topic it is." Gina said sheepishly. "My dad is an archaeologist and most of what I know is thanks to him taking me along with him on his digs every now and then."

"In that case, what do you know about Arian culture?" He asked.

"Pretty much about everything you've already learned from your missions." She replied. "The Arians were the only nation in history to have created a global empire. They were known for taking over large amounts of territory, assimilating other nations and cultures into the empire without destroying said nations' way of life. And it goes without saying that their knowledge of astrology, science and technology was nearly as advanced as our own despite lacking modern day tools."

"Which brings me to the reason I brought you here." Optimus pressed a button on his desk and multiple holo-displays appeared before Gina. She adjusted her glasses as she studied the images; they were of the angels that the Autobots had fought before, the Affinities, Braves, Fortitudo and Lucifer, the being who ran poor Bumblebee ragged. "It is clear that these angels have been in contact with humanity in the distant past, but I do not know how long ago it was."

"And you think that they might have a connection to the Arian empire." Gina stated. Optimus nodded and she crossed her arms. "It seems like a reasonable belief. There was no way the Arians could create giant automatons on their own without some kind of outside help. And they kinda look like the angels from our mythology as well."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Angelic beings that differed in appearance to the human eye. Like the angels from modern day Andrasti scriptures that speak of angels that represent human ideals like honor, compassion, and love. But I don't recall seeing these things in Arian lore."

"The Arians do mention them in their ancient writings, though only briefly." Sara said, speaking for the first time since she got there. "Arian scriptures speak of these beings as otherworldly creatures with names that are unpronounceable to the human tongue. They taught humanity how to live, learn and grow as a species, acting as gods to the humans."

"I never heard of that before." Gina frowned.

"That is because they tried to erase them completely from their records. What remains is only a brief mention of them before what it known as the Great Cataclysm." Sara further explained. When Gina inquired as to how she came to know this information, she replied, "I did some extensive on these creatures that posed a threat to Ms. Gina and stumbled on this rare piece of information. I did not think it was prudent enough to inform you beforehand. My apologies."

"So it's true. They are the reason for the Arian's advancement in technology…and the possible cause of their destruction." Optimus muttered.

"If that's the case, then why are there so little of them left on Terra? You'd think more of them would be waking up by now with all the noise we've been causing on the surface." Gina pointed out.

"Perhaps it is something that is out of their power." He said and looked at Gina. "Gina, could you do something for me?"

"Sure," She agreed eagerly. "What is it?"

"Since you know so much about Terra's ancient history, could you do some research into these angels?" Optimus requested. "You have a better grasp on this than anyone on the team, and I think it would be paramount to know just what we might be dealing with in the future."

Gina looked up at Prime in shock. "You want my help? B-but what can I do compared to you guys?"

"You are a smart girl, Gina. The brightest of your generation. You've already helped us numerous times in the past, and your intelligence has helped us save the lives of many Minicons. I believe you have the skills for this task."

Gina felt her cheeks turn pink at the praise she got. Earning Optimus Prime's respect was something that many Autobots dreamed of, and here she was, a little human girl on a backwater planet being treated like one of the team. "I'll do my best, but don't expect any miracles."

"Your best is enough." He said. "Trust me."

An alert came on the terminal and Ratchet's voice came through. "Optimus, we've got a Minicon panel activation."

"I'll be right there, Ratchet." Optimus said and stood up. "It seems that I have a task of my own to complete."

"Well, we'll just get out of your way." Gina turned around and started walking…only to almost fall off the edge of the desk. Sara grabbed her shirt just in time and pulled her back. "Whoa! Um, could you lend a hand again, Optimus?"

Optimus chuckled and lifted the girls off his desk back onto the ground near the door. It was people like young Gina that gave him such strong faith in humanity.

XXXXXX

"So," Jazz drawled as he looked down at the water below him. "Anyone up for a swim?"

The words were said in jest, but none of the Autobots on the team were particularly thrilled at the thought of taking a dip in the Daras Ocean. The team, consisting of Optimus, Bumblebee, Arcee and Jazz with Sparkplug tagging along, stood on the edge of a cliff not too far from where Prowl's group had their latest battle and otherworldly encounter two days ago. The trail of the Minicon stasis panel that had just activated led them to the edge of the Grecian subcontinent, and led further down. That meant that they had to take a dip in the largest tub in the world if they wanted to get to that Minicon.

"Please don't tell me we're actually going to swim." Arcee groaned.

"Okay. We're not actually going to swim." Jazz said. Arcee glared at him and he grinned.

"You're from Ky-Alexia, Cee," Bumblebee said. "Don't tell me you're afraid of water."

"Just because I was born in a seaside city doesn't make me a swimmer. Being underwater is like being in space, it's too quiet and compact for me." Arcee shuddered. There is a reason she never did underwater missions when she could help it. Leave that slag to the bots with marine alt modes.

"Well, it's not that bad. I did a few underwater missions myself and it's no different from fighting on land save for the lack of mobility. Stick with me and you'll be fine." Bumblebee said brightly. He patted her shoulder before running off the cliff and falling 20 feet in a dive, hitting the water with a big splash.

Jazz winked at his protégé before leaping off as well, doing some fancy flips before hitting the water as well in a magnificent dive. Arcee followed soon after, wondering if her aversion to water was because of her time spent with Peppercat. That little kitty avoided water like the plague. Her dive was even smoother than Jazz's, sinking into the water without so much as a visible splash. Once she was in, Optimus held onto Sparkplug and they both jumped into the water, breaking through the surface with such force that a normal human would die from impacting the water, but Prime was not fazed at all.

The water was cold, as to be expected. So cold that even the Autobots could feel it. As they sank into the depths, they adjusted their optical sensors to see in the dark, murky water and activated their internal comm-link so they didn't have to talk and risk swallowing tons of water every time they opened their mouths. It wasn't like they could drown, but it was uncomfortable when you have gallons of water inside you weighing you down. Large amounts of water was not good on internal components.

"Is everyone still functional?" Optimus asked.

"We're good boss bot _."_ Jazz said. He looked over at Arcee and Bumblebee, who were swimming in tandem alongside him. Bumblebee didn't look to be having any problems, swimming through the water like he was born to do this, but Arcee sported a scowl on her face as she tried to get used to the cold, dark depths that surrounded her on all sides. "Well, most of us."

"Shut up, Jazz." Arcee grunted. "Let's go before we get attacked by a giant squid or something."

Sparkplug swam onto Optimus's shoulder and took out his scanner, which was outfitted to be waterproof by Wheeljack in record time. Fortunately, he a lock on a signal, but he was a bit worried that the signal was faint.

"I've got a reading on the panel, but it's faint. It's just a few kliks north by northeast, but judging by the distance, we might have to swim deeper." Sparkplug said.

"That's fine, Sparkplug. We will deal with any obstacles should they get in our way." Optimus said and started swimming. "Roll out, Autobots."

The team swam through the dark waters, their head lights barely breaking through the darkness of the deep sea. They were already at depths where human submarines would start suffering from the intense pressure of the ocean pressing down on them. The Autobots were unaffected by such pressures thanks to their sturdier builds, but if they go any deeper, then the water pressure would start affecting them as well. Terra's conditions may not be harsh enough to hurt Cybertronians immediately, but enough exposure to Mother Nature could bring even the hardiest bot to their knees.

"Sparkplug, how deep do we have to go?" Arcee asked. "I'm not liking the way things are looking here. We're going a little too deep for my liking."

"Cee is right. Any deeper and the ocean will put the squeeze on us." Jazz said.

"It won't be too far, guys." Sparkplug said. "We don't have to worry about water pressure for quite some time, right Optimus? Optimus?"

Optimus wasn't paying attention. He was more concerned about what was stalking them. He thought it was just the local aquatic fauna, but he noticed that the creature tailing them was much too big for anything that can live this deep in the ocean. It wasn't until he saw a large shadow hiding behind a rock formation that Optimus took out his ion cannon. Jazz noticed this and asked him what he was doing.

"Something is following us." Optimus said. "Weapons ready, Autobots. We're not alone."

The Autobots were quick to follow his orders when they heard a loud, metallic groan that set them on edge. It echoed throughout the dark sea like a whale's call, but more predatory. It sounded like an animal but there was no animal that came to mind that lived this deep in the ocean and made such noises. It lasted for several minutes, and all the while the Autobots were waiting for some kind of attack from all sides. But alas, the groans died down without so much as a fish appearing.

"Huh," Jazz said after a period of silence. "Guess it was nothing."

"Attack!"

The war cry had come from above, followed by a rain of laser fire and missiles. The Autobots looked up to see Nightshade and the Seekers descending upon them like predatory animals. The sea floor was littered with explosions that blossomed all around them, slightly dulled by the water, but no less destructive.

"Target the jolly red giant!" Thundercracker shouted. "He's a sitting duck there!"

"That's what you think." Optimus fired his ion cannon and grazed the Seeker's wing. "You're no speed demon yourself."

"These guys aren't so tough underwater," Bumblebee said. He swam around a missile that Skywarp fired at him and returned fire with his blaster. "They're slower down here."

"Yeah, but so are we." Jazz grappled to a rock formation and used his angle to jump onto Skywarp.

"Get off me!" Skywarp growled.

"No way, bro!" Jazz fired his photon rifle into Skywarp's wing and directed the Seeker to the ground, jumping off just as he crashed into the ground.

Starscream caught sight of Optimus and Sparkplug and dove right towards them. "Prime's head is mine!"

"Wait!" Nightshade flew after Starscream, using her jets to move at least moderately faster to catch up to her subordinate. "Starscream, don't break formation you fool!"

"Optimus, we got incoming." Sparkplug informed Prime.

"I see him." Optimus replied.

Optimus pointed his gun at the incoming Seeker and prepared to pull the trigger when he was close enough. For all their speed, Nightshade and Starscream were not in their element when hampered by the dense water surrounding them. A few well placed shots should ground them long enough for Prime to get his Autobots out of the area. They didn't have time for a long, drawn out battle. But nature had other plans.

Something big crashed through an undersea volcano, barreling through the hardened stone like a mad bull while roaring a teeth chattering metallic cry that reverberated throughout the area. To Optimus, the creature looked like a giant lobster, but it was about the size of two submarines put together and was made of metal that was rusted in some places, with intricate spirals carved into the length of its body. Its large front pincers slammed into the ground, sending dirt and rocks flying everywhere and its blood red eyes glared down at the warring Cybertronians. This monster-known by humans as the Leviathan-was not flesh and blood, but a machine!

"What the hell is that?" Thundercracker exclaimed.

"That would be a giant fish." Jazz pointed out. He whistled when he saw the Leviathan smash a rock formation to pieces. "A very angry fish. Thank Primus I don't eat lobster."

"Now's not the time for jokes, Jazz," Arcee said. "We need to make tracks before that thing pounds us into a sea wreck!"

"Sparkplug!" Optimus turned to his Minicon partner, who was already working on mapping an escape route.

"There!" Sparkplug pointed to a large crevice not too far from them. "We can go through there! It's too narrow for that thing to chase us."

"Then let's boogey!" Jazz kicked off the boulder he was sitting on and swam for the opening alongside his team. Skywarp saw the Autobots retreating and fired a few shots at them, missing entirely.

"The Autobots are getting away!" Skywarp growled and glared up at the giant golem. "That was my pay day you stupid fish!"

Skywarp teleported in front of the Leviathan, floating so close to its face that the red glow of its eyes bounced off his purple armor. Seeing him take aim, Nightshade, Starscream and Thundercracker all tried to stop him from further angering the mighty beast.

"Don't shoot!" They all cried.

Skywarp paid them no mind as he went into jet mode and fired a volley of proton missiles that hit the golem in the face. It flinched back from the explosions that blinded it and shook off the smoke to show that it was completely unaffected by the infernal projectiles, not even showing any scorch marks on its metal hide. Skywarp's previous bravado died out as he saw the Leviathan glare down at him with its savage gaze and in that moment he knew…

"I fragged up." He whimpered.

The smaller mandibles in front of its mouth slammed together and started channeling energy from its hephaestium core to its head. Skywarp realized that it was going to attack and teleported out of its firing range just as it fired an icy blue beam of energy. The beam cut through the water, lighting up the dark area and hit the sea floor where it exploded and left a trail of blue flames in its wake.

Optimus and Sparkplug watched the chaos unfold as the golem wreaked havoc on its surroundings, firing powerful energy bolts and smashing everything in its path with its large claws. For a golem built after a creature that humans eat at fancy restaurants, this thing was surprisingly fearsome. Granted, being a creation of Arian technology, the fact that it was a weapon of mass destruction was not surprising at all. To think that they were once an army of these machines, it was not a good thought.

"They are so fragged." Sparkplug muttered.

"Yo, you guys should haul it before that thing centers on you." Jazz warned them.

Optimus took hold of Sparkplug and jumped into the crevice after Jazz. As they sank into the dark tunnel that led farther into the dark depths, the sounds of battle got softer and softer, until they were completely engulfed in darkness, and the sounds faded into silence.

XXXXXXX

It took a while for the Autobots to reach the end of the curving tunnel that was at the bottom of the underwater crevice. They didn't know how far they swam, and they only had their headlights as their only source of light, and the Minicon signal they were tracking. But they were in for a surprise as they reached the end of the tunnel and emerged at the bottom of a deep pool. They broke through the surface and found themselves in the interior of a large cave.

"I wasn't expecting this." Arcee muttered. She looked around and saw the remains of large stone columns and the head of a statue sitting near the cave entrance. "Was this place inhabited?"

The Autobots reached the shore and got onto land, which looked like a half destroyed staircase. Optimus ran his hand along the walls, studying what looked like pictographs in the stone. Some of them depicted humanoid figures, but one showed a black drawing of the Leviathan that almost killed them.

"This place was made by human hands." Optimus said. "And it would seem that the golem was guarding this area."

"But why? There's nothing here." Bumblebee said.

"Don't be so quick to judge, Bee." Jazz motioned to the pathway that led from the cavern deeper into the underground network. "This road leads to someplace. Like an ancient highway."

"An ancient highway?" Arcee repeated. She sounded skeptical and for good reason. "And this highway leads to where exactly?"

"That's what we're gonna find out." Sparkplug said. His form collapsed into his alt mode and drove into the tunnel. "Let's roll."

Sparkplug led the Autobots along the damaged but mostly intact pathway that extended from the cave they entered through a large cave network that was mostly hollowed out. The "highway" extended into multiple paths, much like modern highways. Some led to dead ends, while others led to other caves that were either uninhabited or were homes to more unsavory creatures (Optimus was forced to beat a giant arachnid into submission at the end of a wrong turn). It wasn't until they started following the central path that they had an easier time navigating their surroundings.

After twenty minutes of driving, walking and sometimes climbing, the Autobots had finally reached the end of the highway, where they passed through an archway with two large statues of knights standing on either side. Thankfully they weren't golems in disguise, that trick was already wearing thin a few months ago and at this point, they were just sick of it. How many of these things did ancient humans have on standby?

As they entered the tunnel, the Autobots followed the trail and entered another cavern, this one massive in scale compared to the other one. The cavern was domed, with an entire sky of blue crystals, lightstones, which bathed the entire earthen pocket in a deep blue glow that simulated night. And sitting on a circular piece of bedrock across the canyon filled with magma from the upper mantle, was a city. They couldn't get a good look at the settlement, but it was clearly made by humans and uninhabited.

"So," Jazz drawled. "Is anyone surprised at seeing a city thousands of leagues deep underwater in a cave?"

"Nope." Bumblebee said.

"Not even shaken." Arcee chimed in.

"I totally called it." Sparkplug said.

"I have gotten used to this planet's mysteries. Nothing surprises me at this point in our time here." Optimus said. Jazz clapped his hands.

"Good, then it's not just me."

Sparkplug pointed the scanner at the city and saw the indicator go into the red zone. "Looks like our Minicon is somewhere in that city."

"Not exactly an easy place to search." Arcee frowned. "How do we even get over there anyway?"

Optimus pointed down a small slope near the cliff that showed a stone bridge leading from their side of the canyon to the other side. It looked stable and large enough to take them in their alt modes, but considering how old it must be, it didn't pay to be reckless.

"Onward and downward, my friends." Jazz said as he and the others walked towards the bridge. "Onward and downward."

XXXXXXX

Nightshade ducked under a bolt that shot over her, lancing dangerously close to her wings. She fired another ethereal arrow from Gandiva that blasted another hole in its metal shell, but the arrow only left a small hole in its dense armor. The Leviathan remained unfazed as it pursued its prey. As their current battle was going, the Decepticons were not having any luck in fighting the golem, which was somehow fast enough to avoid their weapons while coming very close to snapping them in half with its claws.

'This is getting us nowhere!' Nightshade thought. 'The Autobots are long gone and we can't move without this stupid monster chasing us around the damn ocean!'

She had sent Songbird ahead to scout an escape route for them but it was taking longer than it should. She saw Starscream and Thundercracker fly around the golem shooting their Vulcan cannons at it, but the water slowed the velocity of their bullets, decreasing their destructive power. And they were starting to run out of missiles to fire. The Leviathan fired a bolt that sheared Thundercracker's right wing, making him swerve out of control and crash into the sea floor. He switched to robot mode and skidded to a stop, but saw the Leviathan lift its claw to slam down on him.

"I got ya!" Skywarp appeared next to his Seeker brother and teleported away just as the massive claw slammed into the ground. But the Leviathan turned on a dime and fired at bolt at the spot where the two Seekers reappeared.

Starscream, in a rare act of selflessness, darted forward in jet mode and slammed his body into his subordinates, knocking them far enough that they avoided getting blown to scrap, but were blasted away by the explosion. Nightshade saw it all and started to worry that it was predicting their movements along with their flight patterns. They couldn't keep fighting like this. Any longer and they'll run out of energy and ammo before they even found the Autobots.

"Damn it, Songbird, where are you?" Nightshade growled.

"Mistress!" Songbird swam over to her partner, flapping her wings furiously to increase her speed. "I've found a way we can take to escape. Through there!"

She pointed to the crevice that the Autobots had entered earlier, and Nightshade wasted no time in grabbing Songbird and swimming towards the jagged hole in the ground. "Starscream, if you're still alive, get off your ass and move!"

Starscream sighted Nightshade making her escape and turned to Skywarp. The outlier touched Starscream and Thundercracker and teleported near the crevice, where they transformed and flew into the small opening. The Leviathan fired a bolt that almost caught Thundercracker in the back, but he dodged just in time. Seeing that it missed its target, the Leviathan propelled itself through the water after its prey like a large metal shark, snapping its claws at them as it slammed its large body into the narrow opening of the crevice.

'Don't look back. Don't look back!' Starscream chanted in his mind as he forced himself not to turn back towards the metal monstrosity that was trying furiously to squeeze through the crevice in its pursuit of them. The Leviathan continued to snap its claws at the Cons, creating strong waves that knocked the Seekers and their leader off balance, but was unable to reach them. Then it began firing bolt after bolt of blue energy beams that tore into the rock as it tried in one last ditch effort to kill them. The trail of explosions that followed was deafening, but the Cons continued to escape, even as their vision was obscured by dust and plumes of flames.

XXXXXXX

The city the Autobots found themselves in were similar to Arian architecture, but was overall fundamentally different. Optimus couldn't tell just by appearances alone, but something told him that this city was made by something else entirely. The city was completely deserted, that was obvious, and the streets were large and made of a clear blue stone that felt like the Autobots were driving on top of water. Homes, shops, religious temples, they were all very old but were designed in such a way that they look very similar to modern human buildings. But the statues were what fueled his doubts about the citizens who lived here. They depicted people who were mostly humanoid but, upon a closer look, had aquatic fish-like features like gills and webbed hands and feet.

'Is this another sign of aliens living on this world before us?' Optimus thought to himself. 'Or that these people were a variation of humans? How many secrets does this planet have?'

The Autobots continued their drive through the desolate streets, following the signal to guide their way through the maze-like city. It was hard to push above their current speed seeing as Bumblebee and Arcee were afraid of causing this place any damage. The whole settlement had this look of fragility, like everything was going to fall apart at the slightest nudge.

"So is anyone else curious about the fact that there's a city deep underground below sea level?" Bumblebee asked.

"Bee, we're all wondering the same thing," Arcee replied. "But it's not exactly on our list of priorities right now."

"I know that, but I just want to be sure of what we're getting ourselves into." He went on. "We just avoided being fish food for a giant robo-lobster, so I want to be ready to fight any golems that look like giant sharks or something."

"Don't jinx us Bee," Jazz sighed. "Carnivorous robo-fish is the last thing we need."

Sparkplug led the team all the way to the heart of the city, where there was a temple at the top of a long staircase. They climbed up the steep set of stairs and reached the top where they saw a large, domed temple at the end of a large pond that had lotus pods sitting on the water's surface. Before the temple grounds was a large stone archway that looked like a familiar monument Bumblebee remembered seeing on television once. The entire area, from the archway to the temple itself, looked almost as good as new, lacking the visible signs of decay and erosion that permeated the rest of the city. Someone had went to great lengths to preserve this place. Optimus took one step forward, but was stopped when someone not on his team spoke to him.

"Welcome intruders, to the temple of Poseidon."

The Autobots drew their weapons on a dime, pointing them at the figure that hopped into their view. It was a feline creature with an appearance so odd that even Optimus was at a loss for words. The creature before them was clearly feline in nature, but that was where the familiarity ended. It, or she, had the body of a golden furred lion, but also had a head that was eerily similar to a human woman, with a head of luxurious black hair, slitted golden eyes and red lips pulled back in a coy smile. She was also extremely large as well, reaching up to Prime's waist in height. The creature walked in front of the archway, never taking her gaze off the Autobots.

"What are you?" Bumblebee blurted out. Arcee elbowed him for his crass remark.

"I am the guardian sphinx of this city charged with protecting its treasures. You may call me Orphia." She looked the Autobots up and down.

"A sphinx?" Jazz crossed his arms. "Aren't sphinxes like supposed to be a myth? Because I definitely know that you're not supposed to exist."

"I second that." Arcee frowned.

"You're one to talk." Orphia tilted her head as she studied these odd newcomers. "I knew that someone would stumble upon this cavern sooner or later but I was expecting someone more-"

"Human?" Arcee supplied.

"I was going to say smaller, but human works to." Orphia sat down as she continued to survey the visitors with her large eyes. "Now then, may I know the identities of those who braved the Leviathan's wrath to come here?

Optimus stepped forward. "I am Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots. We mean you know harm, great sphinx."

"Of course you don't, you merely seek to pilfer this city's sacred relics." Orphia laughed. "You are no different from the others who sought to gain wealth through thievery. Many have tried and many have failed." She nodded towards the large pool behind her. Unknown to the Bots, the bottom of the pool was covered in a layer of human remains, victims of the sphinx's unexpected ferocity. "Will you succeed in getting past me, or will you end up like the other poor souls who thought they could best me."

"We merely came here looking for something that once belonged to us. In that temple lies a panel that was once a being like us, a refugee who fell here centuries ago." Optimus said.

"So please, just let us pass. You can make sure that we won't take anything else." Sparkplug pleaded.

"No," Orphia refused, though she was polite about it. "If you want to pass, then you must prove that you are worthy of stepping foot on sacred ground."

Wonderful." Arcee sighed.

"Damn it all, we don't have time for this!" Sparkplug growled. "Just let us go. We don't mean you harm, but there are others like us who will torch this whole city without remorse, much less show mercy to you!"

"Temper little one." She warned, but Sparkplug wasn't having it.

"I don't care anymore!" Sparkplug marched forward towards the archway. "I've come too far to lose-gah!"

When he tried to walk through the archway, Sparkplug was strongly knocked back by an invisible force field that sent him crashing on his back. Orphia chuckled.

"I told you to mind your temper." She smirked.

"No one hurts the little guy on our watch!" Bumblebee drew his blaster, but Optimus held his arm down.

"Stand down, Bumblebee." He ordered and looked down at Sparkplug. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, just a wounded pride." Sparkplug grumbled.

"Well, since forcing through way through is out of the question, how do we get in?" Arcee asked.

"By passing my trials," Orphia answered. "Those not authorized by the royal family must pass a trial in order to enter these temple grounds. Trying to force the issue will only end in your immediate demise."

"Uh, Prime, a moment?" Bumblebee asked. He motioned for the other Autobots to gather around him. "Are we really gonna go through with this? I'm not exactly eager to play Gladiator for a creepy mythological creature with a sick sense of humor."

"We don't have a choice," Arcee said. "You saw how that barrier pushed Sparkplug back. I doubt we can have better luck with that without starting a fight."

"Not to mention we're pressed for time." Jazz pointed out.

"Still, how is that creature even real? The kids told me that things like sphinxes were just myths" Sparkplug said.

"Another product of Arian science no doubt." Optimus theorized. "But that's a mystery for another time. We must follow her rules if we are to get that panel before the Decepticons arrive. The maze back there will hold them back for a little while, but not for long. We don't have the time to start another battle."

"Then we know what to do." Sparkplug said.

The Autobots turned back to the sphinx and stated that they will take her trials. Orphia's red lips turned up in a cat-like grin that made her amber eyes shine dangerously.

"Wonderful, I knew you would see things my way." She said, then started to explain the process. "Each of you will be presented with a test relevant to your strengths. They are made to test the limits of your mind and body. Pass, and you get to enter the temple, fail and you can go back the way you came. Now, who will go first?"

There was a period of silence before Bumblebee sighed and stepped forward. "I guess the youngest goes first here. Might as well get it over with."

He walked past the sphinx and through the archway. The minute he stepped into the courtyard, a purple barrier covered the entire compound, sealing the entrance as well. Bumblebee was on his own.

"Okay, what do you have for me cat lady?" He asked, taking a deep breath to ready himself.

"Your trial will be one of bravery." Orphia explained. "You will be tested on how you manage your fear and use it to protect your goals and the people you hold dear."

At a mental command, a tall pillar shot out of the ground, reaching high above the yellow scout. It was wooden and was about sixteen feet tall. There was nothing really special about it that Bumblebee could tell about it, but then he noticed there was a person tied to the middle of the pillar. His eyes went wide.

"Gina?!"

Gina, or what he thought was Gina, was crucified to the pillar, seemingly unconscious. Bumblebee ran forward to rescue her, but he barely reached her when the ground before him erupted into flames, stopping him in his tracks.

"What the hell is this?" Bumblebee yelled. He spun around to face Orphia. "What game are you trying to pull?"

"This is no game. This is a trial." Orphia said, not even a hair out of place. "You care for the girl and will clearly do anything for her. But how far are you willing to preserve that friendship? How far are you willing to go to save your friend?"

Bumblebee gritted his teeth and turned back to the flames. Steeling himself, the Autobot walked into the fire, and almost immediately his body was wracked with excruciating pain. There was no visible damage on his metal hide, but he definitely felt the pain erupt all over his body, like getting doused in fire but with the burning sensation enhanced tenfold. He fell to one knee, but forced himself to keep going despite going numb from the pain.

The yellow Autobot forced himself to look up at Gina's imprisoned form, focus his mind only on her to block out the slow torture he was experiencing. Keeping her in mind, he stumbled forward towards his friend, unable to muster up the will to transform. It took a few minutes, but Bumblebee made it to the pillar. He reached up and snapped the weakly snapped the ropes, letting Gina's small body fall into his hands. Gina opened her eyes and smiled at Bumblebee before her body faded away. The flames around him dissipated in a heartbeat, and the courtyard was illuminated once again.

"Ugh," Bumblebee fell to his knees, his entire body struck with exhaustion from the pain he endured. His limbs were still numb from exerting himself through the ordeal he went through.

"Bee, you alright?" Jazz called out. Bumblebee couldn't say anything but he gave his friends a thumbs up.

"Well done, you've passed the test of bravery. True bravery is not whether you are strong enough or smart enough, it's willing to risk your life for others without hesitation. Anyone can say that they'll give their life for a friend, but how many do you know are actually willing to do it?" Orphia said and turned to the other Autobots. "Now who's up next?"

"That'll be me." Jazz said, strolling forward. "Keep the mike warm for me, will ya?"

Orphia smiled. "Step forward to receive your trial."

XXXXXXX

"Your trial will be one of intelligence," Orphia explained to Jazz. "All you have to do is answer my question and should you answer correctly, I will let you pass."

Jazz looked at her suspiciously. "I'm guessing that it's not gonna be the four in the morning, two at noon and three in the evening riddle, is it?"

"Please sweetheart, that fell out of style three hundred years ago." Orphia said dryly. "Now here's your question: Your village is holding a competition in which everyone is allowed to participate. One of the villagers if taller than the others, giving him an advantage over them. What will you do? Exclude the person in the name of fairness or allow him to take part regardless?"

That was certainly a tricky question. There were only two ways he could go about this really; he could exclude the person so the competition could be fair to all, especially if the person had an unfair advantage going for him. But, it wouldn't be fair to the man to be kicked out for something that was out of his control. It was a two-option question, but Jazz could see the hidden implications between the lines. The real question was whether he was willing to segregate a person based on their differences for the good of all accept their differences as part of who they are, regardless of the outcome?

"What is your answer?" Orphia asked.

Jazz took a moment to reply, but when he did, his voice was confident and sure. "I'll keep the person included in the games."

"Oh?" Orphia cocked an eyebrow. "That is the choice you've picked?"

"Yes." He nodded. "The dude may have an unfair advantage when it comes to the games, but to exclude him for something that was out of his power to control would be even more unfair. Making judgment on a person just for their differences is not how a leader is supposed to govern his people."

Orphia smiled. "That is correct. One must act based on the actions of another, not their appearance or physical attributes. Equality, no matter how difficult, is the path of least resistance. You may pass."

The barrier lifted and Jazz entered the courtyard. He jogged over to Bumblebee, who was lying on his back, still trying to recover from his ordeal. The scout didn't look very amused from Jazz's trial.

"So I almost died, but you had to answer a question?" Bumblebee huffed. "How is that fair?"

Jazz shrugged. "I just made it look easy."

XXXXXXX

"Who is next?"

Optimus looked at Arcee, who stepped back. "You should go first."

He nodded and picked up Sparkplug, placing the Minicon on his shoulder as he stepped to the archway. "What is my trial, sphinx?"

"Strength," She smirked. "You will fight against three enemies, golems who were used as training machines for the warriors stationed here. I'm sure you get how this goes now, win and you pass. Lose and you die. By their blades or my claws."

Optimus narrowed his eyes at her veiled threat and she smiled. "So you aren't easily intimidated, good. Then this trial is perfect for you. Step forward."

Optimus entered the courtyard and the entrance was sealed behind him. He barely took a step forward before a four pillars rose from the ground and together they released a violet energy barrier that was shaped like a dome. The dome itself was nearly half a mile long, enough room for Optimus to fight whatever Orphia had in mind for him. Then the ground before Optimus began to split open, and a large platform started to rise up from an underground chamber. Sparkplug powerlinked with Optimus and Prime took out his Ion cannon.

Standing on the platform were three silver knights, each one holding a different weapon-a broadsword, a spear and a scythe. They were all at least a head taller than Optimus, constructed to look like humans in silver armor, but they had blue lines running along their armor from their chests to their arms. Knight #1 raised its sword at Optimus in a silent challenge. Then it rushed forward, closing the distance between them in a few long strides before slashing at the Autobot leader.

Optimus ducked under the sword, feeling the blade swing so close to his body that he felt the wind rush over his back, and retaliated with a shot from his ion cannon. The blast hit it in the shoulder but before he could press his attack, Optimus was forced to dodge a spear thrust down on him from above. He rolled away so that the sharp spear tip hit the ground, but took a kick from its wielder, Knight #2. He hit the ground hard, but still fired his cannon, holding Knight #2 back as Knight #1 rushed at him again and attacked with a barrage of quick and strong strikes from its sword. Optimus deployed his battle blade and deflected a downward strike from the golem before shooting its leg, forcing it to one knee.

Then, acting on his battle instinct, Optimus jumped to the side as a scythe blade hit the spot he was just in. Knight #3 spun its long reaching weapon around its body before lashing out at the Autobot with a series of quick and deadly strikes that kept Optimus on the defensive. He heard heavy footsteps coming from behind him and when Knight #3 came at him with a horizontal strike, Optimus bent down low just as Knight #2 rushed at him from behind. The blade swung over his head and stabbed into Knight #2's side, digging into its armor and inner mechanisms. Optimus used this chance to jump up fire his ion cannon at Knight #3's heat, the ion blasts tearing the knight's head apart in seconds. The body stumbled back before falling to the ground, a molten pile of slag where its head used to be.

"Oof!" Optimus was hit from the side by a punch from Knight #1, sending him crashing through the ground before hitting the side of the barrier, his ion cannon falling not too far from him. Knight #2 pulled the scythe out of its abdomen and threw it at Prime, who just barely rolled out of the way. Optimus deflected the mighty swing from the spear Knight #2 threw at him and when it tried to impale him he leapt to the side. He climbed onto its pole arm and flipped himself up to punch it in the face.

As it fell to the ground, Knight #1 slashed at Optimus, but he ducked under its swing, and grabbed onto the blade in a single movement. Optimus used the momentum of the swing to fling himself into the air and towards the knight's head. With a yell, he stabbed his battle blade into the golem's head, the red hot blade easily cutting into the ancient internal components like it was butter. But Optimus had no time to see the knight fall as he was forced to flip over a spear that was thrown at him from behind. He winced at he felt the blade lightly scratch his back as it rushed under him. He hit the ground hard and saw Knight #2 charge at him and throw a punch down at him.

The Autobot stepped back just enough for the large metal fist to pass by his chest within a hair's breath and slashed his blade down on its elbow, severing the arm at the joint. The knight caught him with a palm strike that slammed him into the ground and he skidded along the stony tiles, sending sparks flying as he rolled to a stop. He looked up and saw his ion cannon lying a foot away from him and he crawled over to it as the knight retrieved its spear and lunged at him.

"Fall!" Optimus pulled the trigger and released an ion blast that hit the knight right in the head, forcing its upper body back. He kept on firing, not stopping until he saw that the knight's head and shoulders were completely blown off in a smoking mess of heated metal. It fell to its knees and collapsed on its side.

Orphia gave an impressed whistle as Optimus sagged in relief and fell onto his back in exhaustion.

"Now I see why you're the leader." She smiled. "You've passed your test. Please, enter."

The energy field around Optimus faded away and he pulled himself to his feet to drag himself over to his friends. Jazz and Bumblebee ran over to their leader.

"You solid, boss bot?" Jazz asked.

"Yes, I'm fine, just tired. Fighting three opponents at once isn't as easy as it used to be." Optimus sighed. Sparkplug disengaged from his arm and frowned.

"This is taking too long." He complained. "We should just get the panel now and leave while we still have the advantage."

"And risk pissing off the cat lady? No way little dude, I'm not taking my chances after seeing that little display of hers." Jazz said. If she could summon three golems, then how many more did she have in reserve?

"Besides, Arcee's the only one left." Bumblebee pointed out. "Let's give her a chance."

XXXXXXX

"So the last Autobot stands before me," Orphia looked up at Arcee. "Are you ready for your test?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." Arcee said.

"Good. Your trial will be one of courage."

"Courage?" Arcee looked uneasy. "Oh boy."

"What's wrong?" Orphia asked, seeing the expression on Arcee's face. "You look uneasy."

"Maybe it's because I'm not courageous," Arcee said. "I've been a mess ever since my sister died, and spent a good part of the War for Cybertron trying to kill myself in suicide missions out of despair. Even after Jazz helped me through it, I still tried to run away from my past, from the nightmares I still have, by trying to bury it under all these layers of bravado, only to have it come haunt me again on this world and threaten the people I love. Darren says that I'm strong, but I'm not. I'm just good a hiding my fear when people are looking my way."

The Autobots, save Jazz, looked at her in shock. They knew that her life had been torn to shreds by the war, and she had a rough time trying to deal recover from the ordeals that nearly pushed her to the edge. But they had no idea she was that far gone. Jazz had helped her deal with the pain by instructing her as a teacher from Yoketron's school, but it took longer for her to really deal with the demons from her past. The situation with Flamewar on Terra forced her to face those demons. Jazz did everything in his power to help her, but now it was all up to her now.

Orphia stared at Arcee for what felt like an eternity, then smiled and nodded. "You pass."

Arcee did a double take. "Excuse me?"

"You pass," Orphia said again. "Being courageous has nothing to do with being fearless or having a spotless past. To admit your faults, even the ones that you're most ashamed of, is showing true courage. Thus, you have passed your trial young Autobot."

Orphia lifted the barrier and Arcee walked into the courtyard to meet with the others. Jazz welcomed her with open arms and patted her on the shoulder.

"You did good, Cee." He told her.

"I suppose," She sighed. "I didn't mean to say all that. It just…all came out at once."

"We know, Arcee," Optimus said. "We all have things from the past that we want to forget. But sooner or later, we will be forced to deal with them. It's what makes us what we are."

"Autobots," Orphia called out. "You have passed all your trials. As such, you are deemed worthy of entering the temple grounds and may come and go as you wish with any of your friends."

"Well it's about time." Bumblebee said. "Come on, let's get the panel and leave this place before something else happens."

In an act of irony, the archway went up in flames as multiple explosions littered the area. Orphia jumped away as she saw the place where she guarded for thousands of years go up in flames. She snarled at the offenders.

"Who dares attack sacred grounds?" She snarled, her beautiful face shifting into a horrific, beastial scowl.

Four figures flew out of the flames and transformed, hitting the ground hard and pointing their weapons at the Autobots. It was Nightshade and her team.

"Of course," Sparkplug sighed.

"I see you four got past the giant lobster." Arcee said.

"Yes, no thanks to you." Nightshade hissed. She drew powerlinked with Songbird and raised her railgun at Prime's chest. "Unfortunately for you, we have a teleporter on our side."

"A half-baked teleporter is nothing to brag about you stupid turkey." Bumblebee yelled.

'He dies first.' Nightshade thought angrily. "Seekers attack!"

The Cons opened fire on the Autobots, but before they made it to the archway, the sphinx lunged at Skywarp, biting and tearing into his metal hide with her extremely sharp teeth and claws. The Seeker, not expecting the sudden attack, was flailing around trying to dislodge the sphinx as she caused massive damage in relatively little time. Nightshade and Starscream continued onward, ignoring Skywarp's plight as they stormed the temple. The Autobots made to meet them midway, but Optimus held them back.

"You're no friends of ours." He said.

The barrier reappeared over the temple grounds, stopping the two Cons from advancing. Nightshade caught herself in time, but Starscream ran head first into the barrier and was repulsed violently, flying back into a stone pillar.

"What is this?" Nightshade questioned. Seeing that the barrier formed a dome over the entire temple, she turned to call Skywarp over, only to see him and Thundercracker still fighting the sphinx, which was still besting them with ease. Shaking her head in disgust, Nightshade took out Gandiva and pulled the arrow back. "Time to improvise."

She pelted the barrier with her powerful arrows, but none of them broke through the barrier. Each arrow, harboring enough power to almost rival Megatron's fusion cannon, hit the energy field and exploded on contact with a resounding boom akin to a thunderclap. Optimus saw that the smoke from the explosions started to cover Nightshade's view and formulated a plan.

"On my mark Autobots, get ready to rush them all at once." He said. When he lost sight of Nightshade he willed the barrier to fade as he transformed to his truck mode. "Now!"

The barrier faded just as Nightshade finished firing another arrow. She heard the loud horn of a truck and saw Optimus burst out of the smoke at full speed. He slammed into her, knocking the bow from her hands, and kept on driving forward, barreling past Thundercracker and Skywarp. He kept going until they went off the edge of the long staircase, and they both fell down the stairs, tumbling all the way to the bottom. Nightshade flipped herself back to her feet, but had to bend back to avoid getting her head cut in two by Prime's axe. Nightshade shot up and took out her swords, leaping at Optimus. They clashed in the middle, sending lightning fast attacks at each other, trying to avoid the sharp blades from hitting anything vital while also trying to the jump on their opponent.

Back at the top, the Autobots and Seekers were engaged in a chaotic firefight. A very damaged Skywarp was trying his best to avoid getting mauled again by Orphia, but Bumblebee was taking pot shots at him with his blaster, forcing the Con on the defensive. Arcee and Jazz took on Starscream and Thundrecracker respectively. The two changed dancing partners frequently, screwing around with one Seeker before switching and doing the same thing. It pissed Starscream something fierce, as he couldn't get a solid lock on any of them.

"Would you scrapheaps just stay still!" He growled. Jazz flipped over him and smacked the back of his head with his laser bo staff.

"That's not how the game goes, Screamy." Jazz grinned. He swung his staff again but Starscream jumped back and glared at him.

"If you think that this is a game, then you're dumber than you look Autobot." Starscream smirked and pointed his null ray at Arcee. "Here's how I play your little game."

Jazz cursed and jumped at Arcee. "Cee, look out!"

Arcee turned to see Starscream fire his null ray at her. She knew that there was no time for her to dodge the potentially lethal shot, but she didn't expect for Jazz to push her out of the way and take the shot for her. Arcee yelled out Jazz's name and quickly grabbed him, but she had to dodge a barrage of artillery fire from Thundercracker in the process. Starscream grinned and ordered his subordinate to press the attack. He wanted revenge for that humiliation he suffered on his last mission.

Jazz, who was still conscious as he made sure to get hit in the arm instead of the chest, sat up and snatched up one of Arcee's swords. With skill that only one trained in melee weaponry could muster, he threw the blade with his working arm and saw it stab into Starsream's null ray arm, causing the Seeker to double over. Arcee took the chance to do a back-flip over to Thundercracker and slash a deep gash into his chest with her other blade.

"Skywarp, get over here!" Starscream shouted.

Skywarp, who was still fighting off the savage sphinx and yellow scout heard his leader's call and started his teleportation sequence. Acting on instinct, Bumblebee leaped forward and grabbed onto Skywarp's wing just as he vanished. It was an exploitable setback of Skywarp's power; he could teleport himself and others along with him so long as he was in physical contact with him. The problem was that this wasn't discriminate to friend or foe, and an enemy who is fast enough to grab hold of him would be able to hitch a ride with him.

The outlier reappeared beside Starscream with his unintended guest and Bumblebee took advantage of this to land his own little surprise attack. Before they realized that he was there the scout slammed his knee into the back of Skywarp's head and used his wings as leverage to gain some air time on his foes. He fired a few rounds from his blaster at Starscream, shooting him in the chest, and landed on the ground. Skywarp tried to behead him with his bayonet , but Bumblebee ducked under the blade and punched him in the jaw. He didn't notice Starscream making his way towards Gandiva.

Down below in the city, Optimus and Nightshade continued their dance of death. They both were covered in cuts and dents from a few close calls, but neither bot was willing to give in. nightshade, despite being stuck in a stalemate with Prime, had to marvel how a mech as large as Optimus could wield an axe with such speed. She thought Yoketron was fast, but Prime was a master with his weapon. She came at with quick strikes from her swords, but he deflected them with his own strikes, which were starting to make her hands hurt each time a blow connected.

'This is getting me nowhere!' She thought desperately. 'I need to change things up.'

Nightshade leapt back from a swipe from Prime and kicked off the staff of his axe to propel herself back. She fired her railgun at him to keep him at bay and transformed to fly away. But Optimus was quick to grab her wings and hold her in place, even though he was getting a face full of white hot flames from her jet exhaust ports.

"Let go of me!" Nightshade shrieked.

"You're not going anywhere!" Optimus grunted.

Damn it," Nightshade called for help. "Skywarp, I'm in need of an assist!"

Skywarp shook the cogwheels from his brain module as he heard Nightshade's call for help. He saw Bumblebes running at him and rolled to the side to avoid the scout's kick before teleporting out of the area. He manifested next to Nightshade's position and fired his cannons at Optimus.

"That's no way to treat a lady!" Skywarp quipped as he pelted Optimus with explosive incendiary rounds that damaged the Auotbot's armor.

The attack as enough o get Optimus to let go, and Nightshade flew over to Skywarp, who started to teleport away. Not down yet, Optimus grabbed his ion cannon and ran at the two Cons, touching a finger to Nightshade's wing just as they started to warp and they all vanished in a flash of light.

XXXXXXXX

"No you don't Starscream!"

Arcee jumped at Starscream and grabbed at Gandiva, trying to wrnech it from his hands. Starscream sneered at her and tried to pull it away from her, but Arcee kept a tight grip on the shaft of the bow. The two grappled with the weapon for a bit, neither giving in, though they failed to notice the crystals on the bow start to glow near Arcee's hands save for Orphia. Realizing what this meant, and seeing that the bow was something much special that she thought, Orphia leapt onto Starscream's back and started biting and clawing at him. Starscream yelped in pain and tried to get her off, losing his grip on Gandiva.

Then Skywarp and Nightshade reappeared with Optimus, who punched the purple Seeker in the face and knocked him to the ground. As for Nightshade, she saw the glowing Gandiva in Arcee's hands and snarled, rushing to get it back from her. Arcee saw the angry Con come at her and she aimed the bow at her, pulling the string back and manifesting an arrow. Nightshade saw what she was doing and knew that she was in a bad position. Trying to escape Gandiva at this range was like trying to outrun lightning. Arcee let the string go and the entire courtyard was engulfed by a loud boom, followed by a huge explosion that sent everyone near it off their feet.

"Incredible." Orphia gasped. How had these beings come to acquire such a powerful weapon? She thought only her masters had such godlike weapons.

It took Nightshade a moment to realize that she was still alive, but there was a heavy weight pinning her to the ground. She pushed the body off her and saw that it was Thundercraker, who was missing both his legs from the knees down. She quickly figured that he had pushed her out of the way of the arrow and took the damage that in all likelihood would've killed her. He was still online, though clearly in pain and not in any condition to battle anymore. She looked up and saw that Arcee was lying on the ground in a daze, not used to firing such a powerful weapon like that, though Nightshade had to wonder how could the pink Autobot use it when Megatron couldn't even pull the string back.

Nightshade sprinted to the bow and snatched it up before returning to Thundercracker's side. She looked around and saw that Starscream was nursing his serious wounds he gained from the tooth and claw of the guardian sphinx, and Skywarp was still trying to get his bearings from that sucker punch Prime gave him. She scowled, knowing that they lost this battle and another panel to the Autobots. But she was not leaving this place without taking a head with her.

She spun around and pointed Gandiva at Arcee, but before she could pull the string, she felt the barrel of a gun pressed against the back of her head.

"Don't," Optimus said calmly. "You've already lost this battle. Retreat while you still can."

"You think that I will run from you bastards?" Nightshade scowled. "I can still fight."

"you're outnumbered with most of your team seriously wounded." He nodded towards the legless Thundercracker and the heavily bleeding Starscream and Skywarp. "You're smarter than this, Nightshade. You know when the battle is won or lost."

She knew it, and it was humiliating. The battle with the Leviathan had worn her group down and made it all the more harder to fight the Autobots, who were in much better shape than them. She was the only one who didn't look like she was mauled by a pneuma-lion, and they still had energy to run on. With a growl, Nightshade lowered her bow and dragged Thundercracker over to Skywarp.

"Skywarp, take us out of here," Nightshade ordered. "We're retreating."

"Are you insane!" Starscream shouted. "We can't run now! The Minicon is right there!"

The punch that she gave him was hard enough to shatter the optical shutters over his left eye. He fell to the ground and scrambled back when Nightshade pointed Gandiva at him.

"I am your superior officer, Starscream," Nightshade said in a low, menacing tone. "And I won't have your insubordination this time. My word is law, and you will follow it to the letter or won't live to see the end of this war! We are retreating, now!"

She didn't wait for Starscream's reply as she pushed him towards Skywarp and touched the outlier's shoulder as he began to glow. Nightshade gave the Autobots one last baleful glare before she, and the Seekers, disappeared in a bright flash of purple light. They were now gone from the temple and the Autobots were alone.

No one said anything as they recovered from the battle, then Orphia let out a purr.

"That was certainly the most fun I had in a century," She chirped. "Can we do it again?"

XXXXXXXX

The temple of Poseidon, as Orphia had named it, looked more like a place of worship than a treasury. It was a large dome that had ancient, but extravagant relics sitting on pedestals in every corner of the temple. Each relic was made of gold or silver, and had tiny jewels like sapphires and diamonds encrusted into them. They all had to be thousands of years old but looked no more worn that a week after they were made. The walls sported murals of the same warriors that Optimus had saw out in the city, but this time, they had greenish skin and fish-like qualities that he didn't notice from the statues outside.

'I wonder how Gina will react to all this.' Optimus thought. He made sure to have Sparkplug take pictures of everything to show her later. She'd love it all.

But they were here for one thing, and that object was sitting right before them. The stasis panel was sitting in the far end of the temple, resting on a soft red pillow and decorated in jewels like the other relics.

"Nice of the people here to decorate our panel for us." Arcee quipped and picked up the tiny panel and handed it to Sparkplug.

"It's going to be a glitch getting these out." Sparkplug groaned.

Optimus knelt down before the sphinx and gave his thanks to her. "Thank you for allowing us entry. And I am sorry for the destruction we've caused during our battle."

"Think nothing of it. It's been a while since something this interesting happened." Orphia said. "Besides, I've only got a few more months before I've got to move on."

"Move on?" Optimus inquired.

"Yes, I am leaving this wonderful city and taking these relics back to my masters' home. Something came up a few weeks ago and it's got them spooked for some reason." Orphia shrugged. "I don't know. Prophets are strange like that."

Optimus knew that he was going to open another can of worms here with this next question, but he couldn't help himself. "What is your home exactly? If you don't mind me asking."

"I don't mind it at all. You've probably already heard of it already." Orphia said, and proceeded to drop the bombshell of the day. "Have you ever been to Atlantis?"


	31. The Golden Asp

Chapter 31-The Golden Asp

Penny Pincer held back a yawn as she scrolled down the extra long internet page on her laptop. It was a slow day for her, with school being closed for a two-day holiday and the weather was no longer good enough to spend large amounts of time outside without freezing her buns off. Most of the Autobots were out scouting for energon. Penny had long since learned, among other things, that energon was basically their fuel source, which they had in short supply at the moment. Cybertronians could survive for long amounts of time without energon, but eventually it came down to how much energy they used before they needed to refuel.

Gina had told her that the Autobots' energon supply was starting to get smaller each day and it was getting to be a problem for them. The team spent most of their days looking for new deposits but that task was getting hard to complete as well. The bots that used up less fuel to operate like Bumblebee and Arcee were forced to do double duty sometimes. It was a bit disconcerting to see these powerful robots looking so desperate, like humans when they run out of food and water. It helped Penny realize that the Autobots were stuck here for who knows how long and being stranded on a planet far from home had its fair share of dangers. Starvation being the most prevalent.

But she had no idea how to help them. She was just a regular, if not very intelligent, girl with no powers or fancy armor to fly around in. But damn if it didn't make her feel a bit helpless. Which led her to working on her laptop, which Liftor generously hooked up to a Minicon-sized Teletran-1 terminal, searching for any signs to those little stasis panels that the Bots were always looking for. It was kind of useless to help the super advanced alien supercomputer search the internet, but she needed something to do that didn't involve getting mixed up in Gina's stupid "weapons program" that she was making.

"Penny?" Gina called out, walking into the room with Sara in tow. "What are you doing in here?"

"Research," Penny answered, not taking her eyes off the screen. "I'm trying to find signs of the Minicons on Google. Figured Teletran-1 could use the help."

It wasn't a lie. Gina helped the Autobots realize that the Minicons were deeply intertwined with human history. Their stasis panels were often treated as sacred objects of great value that were gifts from the gods and such. The internet was their best source of information, and they had to inspect every piece of ancient painting, carving, scripture and tomb that had any remote connection to the Minicons. It was mostly by chance, but it allowed the Autobots to have some form of an advantage on the Cons instead of waiting for the panel to release its distress signal.

"Um, Penny, you do know that Teletran can do this-"

"By itself, yes I am well aware of that, Gina." Penny frowned and slammed her head onto the table. "But I'm bored!"

"Penny, it would be advisable to take a break to recharge your systems," Sara suggested. "Prolonged physical activity is detrimental to your health. Ms. Gina suffers from the same affliction as you."

Gina looked at Sara confused. "How is that?"

"Penny has high blood pressure and an increased heart rate," Sara explained. "The same thing that happens to you when Darren Radcliffe get's close to you or physically touches-"

Gina slapped her and over the android's mouth. "That's enough medical deductions, Sara."

Penny smirked at her rival. "Increased heart rate from Darren huh?"

"Not a word." Gina growled. Penny zipped her lips closed.

"My lips are sealed."

Penny's laptop started to beep, drawing the girls' attention. Gina leaned over Penny's shoulder as she read the screen and her face turned serious.

"Penny, we need to get the Autobots, fast!" She said urgently.

XXXXXXX

Nightshade and Songbird stood before Megatron as he gave them news of their next assignment, with Soundwave working at the Nemesis' computer terminal in the background. He just informed them of a possible Minicon sighting.

"Soundwave detected one already?" She questioned. "But the computers didn't give any alerts."

"We didn't detect the panel itself, rather a possible clue about its whereabouts." Megatron motioned to the main monitor, which showed a lavish mural depicting a king kneeling before a queen holding out a small, familiar object in his hands as an offering. "The Autobots have already gotten a jump on us multiple times in the past by investigating this planet's ancient history, a fact we have long overlooked. But now we are the ones who have the advantage."

"Very well," Nightshade nodded. "Tell me where to go and I will assemble a team at once."

"You're not going anywhere, Nightshade." Megatron said sharply. "I am far from pleased with your lack of progress in the last couple of retrieval missions. It's getting a bit embarrassing that my own second in command can't even snuff out a few Autobots when they're already weakened."

Nightshade bristled. "Megatron, what happened in the city was not my-"

Megatron held up at hand to silence her. "If I want anything done, then I will have to do it myself. I will lead this mission, and you will act as support with Blackout and Barricade."

"As you wish, Megatron." Nightshade scowled. She knew that he would get tired of her recent failures, but it still stung that she was getting sidelined like Starscream.

"Good," Megatron turned to Soundwave. "Soundwave, set ground bridge coordinates for Libya. It is time to see what the humans call their cradle of civilization."

XXXXXXXX

The continent of Libya was known for many things, but the climate was the most talked about. Much of the continent was covered in a vast desert, the Elmia Desert, and the rest was either wide plains or dense jungles. Despite the scorching hot weather, humans still populated Libya, surviving to the best of their abilities. Which isn't that surprising considering it was believed that prehistoric humans first came from Libya and branched out to the rest of the world before the continents split apart.

The Autobots-a team lead by Optimus consisting of Arcee, Bulkhead and Ironhide- had traveled to Libya on a mission that was literally formed only a few minutes ago. They were investigating a possible lead on a Minicon panel in the Libyan country of Aithiops, going on nothing more than a mural that showed the panel in the hands of an Aithiopian king. Penny and Kevin had come along as well, because the girl had learned that this panel had a possible connection to the fabled King Solomon of old, and she wanted to be the first to get in on the action before Gina could sniff it out.

But finding the Minicon's location was difficult. Without a signal to follow, they had to play it old school and ask around for clues as to where they could start looking. Having ground bridged near the airport in Aithiops, the Autobot took the first road they could find and drove away from the big city to the country's rural areas. With nothing but a mural to go on for clues, they were going to have to do some information gathering to get a lead, and the best way to do that was talk to the locals who were experts in superstitions.

"I told myself I'd never go back to a desert ever again." Ironhide groaned. "Especially after Azadistan. And like a moron I jump at the first chance to go to another sandbox like this one."

"Oh relax, Hide, it's not that bad." Tracer said. "At least it's not someplace cold like the Arctic or something. Right, Undertone?"

Tracer turned to the other Minicon that accompanied her on this mission, Undertone. He was the Minicon from the panel that the Autobots had rescued from their undersea adventure. Undertone was solid white, with a slender body with two wheels on his shoulders and a slender chest with two sword sheaths mounted on his back. Undertone wasn't much of a talker, he rarely interacted with the other Minicons since he arrived at the Ark, and didn't even give the Autobots the time of day, but Tracer was happy that she managed to get him to come along as back up.

"So," Penny drawled. "You excited for what we're going to find on this mission, Undertone? Terra must be a completely new place for you. Don't you feel overwhelmed?"

Undertone said nothing, but he shook his head in response to her question. Penny pouted and Kevin smiled.

"You're not going to get a peep from him, Penny. The guy's a real ninja." Kevin said.

"I'm not going to give up." Penny said stubbornly and crossed her arms. She'd appreciate a decent conversation from the little bot. It'd make her feel better.

After a few minutes of driving through the dusty path, the Autobots stopped at a small village in passing. Kevin and Penny got out and started to ask the locals about their quarry. Optimus, using his holomatter, went to follow them to make sure they were safe. Some locals weren't very friendly to foreigners. Asking for directions wasn't the most efficient way of completing the mission, but it was better than driving around aimlessly. Fortunately, the kids were back in a few minutes and hopped back into Prime's front seats.

"That was fast," Arcee said. "Did you guys get some info?"

"I'm assuming Penny did, because I barely got a word out before she snatched me up and dragged me away." Kevin said, glaring at Penny.

"Sorry, but I just got a lead on where we need to go." She said and took out a map. "First off, the panel was in the possession of King Solomon, the man holding it in the mural. Solomon was a king from the Middle East, and had traveled to a region called Axum with the panel as a gift to the queen of Sheba."

"And the panel is somewhere in Axum?" Tracer asked.

"Most likely," Penny nodded. "Sheba ruled over the kingdom there and she was buried somewhere in the wilderness in a secret tomb that only a few people know the existence of."

"Nice work kids." Arcee said.

"But we still don't know where the hell the panel is, and now we have to go hunting for a graveyard? Wonderful," Ironhide grunted. He really was not looking forward to driving around in sandstorms.

"I have an idea where we can look first." Penny pointed at something on the map, which showed a small snake-shaped landmass in the Axum region. "We should go here."

"Why? What's so special about that place?" Bulkhead asked.

"It's where Sheba had stored her treasures, and that includes the panel." She answered.

"It's a bit of a stretch, but it's something to go on." Ironhide sighed. "What's the play Prime?"

This is worth investigating," Optimus said and started his engines. "Let's go Autobots. We're losing daylight."

The Autobots started to drive away, carefully weaving through the village as they traveled back into the wilderness. But they were being watched. The red and black form of Laserbeak sat in a tree amidst the branches and leaves, his red eyes watching his enemies drive away. Once they were far enough out of earshot, he called it in.

"This is Laserbeak," He said with a caw. "I have a visual on the Autobots."

" _Follow them"_ Soundwave ordered. " _Transmit your position. We will be there shortly."_

XXXXXXX

The Autobots had driven a few miles away from the village and it wasn't long before they were met with one of Libya's first hazards. While approaching a valley just a mile or two north of their position, the Autobots were assaulted by a fierce sandstorm that came out of nowhere. Optimus shut his windows closed so that no sand got inside and hit the kids, but it didn't help the rest of the team with their lack of visibility.

"I can't see a damn thing!" Ironhide grunted. "Where the hell did this sandstorm come from?"

"They're a fact of life in Libya. They come out of nowhere and hit you like a wrecking ball, and for a lone traveler, they are certain death if you don't know your way." Kevin explained.

"How long do these storms last?" Arcee asked.

"Sometimes a day, sometimes a week. Depends on how lucky you are." He replied.

"Guys, I think I see something up ahead." Tracer said.

Though their forms were blurred by the heavy sand hitting their vehicle forms, the Autobots could clearly make out the large outlines of two Decepticons, one large and one small. As they got closer, they saw that it was Blackout and Barricade, their weapons pointed right at them. Powerlinked with his Minicon, Blackout raised his arm and fired a sonic wave directly at the Autobots.

"Evade!" Optimus exclaimed.

The Autobots scattered as the sonic attack tore up the ground, nearly catching Bulkhead in the side as they deftly avoided getting scrapped. Barricade grinned as he saw his enemies do a little "dance" for him and heft a large tripled barreled scatter blaster into his hands, unloading a barrage of plasma fire at them.

"What are they doing here?" Penny asked, trying to stay in her seat with Prime's hard swerving.

"Who knows, who cares," Bulkhead grunted as another sonic blast rushed by him. "Let's just tear these guys apart!"

"We don't have time. We cannot fight in these conditions." Optimus said and drove straight at Barricade and Blackout.

He knew that these two were probably only here as decoys to slow them down. Which meant that there were more Cons that already were on their way to the location they learned about. How they knew where to go in the first place was a mystery, but what mattered now was getting through these two roadblocks. Optimus floored it and increased his speed, going past his usual speed limit and nearly throwing the children from their seats.

"He's not stopping." Blackout said.

"Then make him stop!" Barricade fired his weapon, trying to his Optimus but failing miserably.

Blackout prepared to stop Prime in his tracks with his thunderclap cannon, but before he could even fire, a white flash whisked past his face and landed on his shoulder. It was Undertone. He came out of nowhere, running along Blackout's long limbs and attacking fluidly with his swords, cutting off large chunks of Blackout's armor. It certainly didn't help that the Con's armor was already the weakest among Megatron's team. He leapt off his shoulder and ran down Blackout's arm, stabbing into the gaps between his armor panels. Sparks flashed as he severed some circuits and he didn't waste any time as he cut into Cannon, severing the connection he had and kicking the Minicon off.

Undertone ducked under Blackout's hand as he tried to grab at the white Minicon, and ran back up his arm. He leapt forward and slashed his swords at the Con's face, damaging his optics in one blow. Barricade saw that his partner needed help and turned to assist him, but then he heard a loud truck horn. He turned back just in time to see his reflection in Prime's grill as the Autobot leader rammed him with bone crushing force, sending him flying. This gave the Autobots a clear path to through the valley.

"Oh, damn!" Kevin laughed. "That was sweet!"

"Undertone, come back!" Tracer called out.

Undertone obeyed, jumping off Blackout's head and shifting into a futuristic looking motorcycle and sped after the Autobots, leaving behind a stunned, wounded and blind Blackout. Blackout fell to his knees, rubbing his eyes in pain and angrily gave to order to initiate phase two of their plan.

"Laserbeak, light them up!"

The bird Minicon spread his wings and jumped off his perch on top of the canyon wall, flying into the valley. He pointed his two laser cannons at the opposing valley walls and fired two ruby red laser blasts them. The blasts hit the stone with explosive force and caused the entire valley to rumble as the Minicon caused a shower of large rocks to fall down upon the Autobots. The Autobots increased their speed, swerving wildly to avoid getting crushed by the rocks they couldn't avoid in time. Penny and Kevin were holding onto each other, screaming their heads off at the chaos going on around them.

As for Undertone, he had transformed to robot mode and leapt on the falling rocks, using them as footholds to propel himself towards his comrades quicker. He avoided the boulders with the skill and ease not seen in a Minicon, or even a Cybertronian. When he was close enough to Bulkhead, he jumped up and cut a boulder in two before it could hit the green Autobot. He landed on his hood and smoothly slid into his seat through the open window.

"That was impressive!" Tracer grinned. Undertone gave her a slight nod as a silent thank you and she smiled.

The Autobots managed to make it out of the valley and continued driving towards their destination.

"Is everyone okay?" Arcee asked. "Kevin, Penny?"

"We're fine," Kevin said in a shaky voice. "I almost fainted back there, but were fine,"

"Good lord, Gina and the others go through this every day?" Penny panted, trying to calm her still beating heart.

"Not every day," Ironhide commented. "Just enough for you to question their sanity."

"We need to put some distance between those goons and us." Arcee said. "Not that they'll be any threat thanks to Undertone."

"Told you bringing a ninja would help us in the end." Tracer said smugly.

Barricade pulled himself up and held his broken arm, limping towards the stone wall Laserbeak had made. It was supposed to slow the Autobots down, but now they were blocked off from the rest of their team. And Blackout was in no shape to be flying blind in this weather.

"Of course Prime and his pets gets pass us. What the hell was the point of this distraction!" Barricade raged. Blackout put a hand on his shoulder.

"We've done our job." Blackout said. "Megatron and the others are probably already at the tomb by now. The Autobots are too late to stop them."

Barricade scowled, wanting nothing more than to give chase and snuff out those Autobots himself. But Megatron's orders were very clear, and the mission came before anything else.

XXXXXX

The Autobots drove no-stop a few miles from the destroyed valley until they reached the former territory of the kingdom of Axum. With their goal not too far from them now, the Bots decided to pull over and let the children take a breather for a minute while they planned their next move. Penny stumbled out of Prime's cab and took a deep breath of fresh air to calm herself. She had forgotten how scary being in the middle of all that chaos was, despite actually being captured by Decepticons before. After letting Kevin out, Optimus transformed and walked over to her, kneeling down to study her.

"Are you all right, Penny?" He asked softly.

"Yes, I'm fine. It's just," She shook her head. "For some reason, I wasn't expecting this to be so chaotic and scary. I can't believe that the others go through this on an almost daily basis."

"You're not the first one to feel that way. Our battles are more…destructive than most advanced races." He said. "Do you want me to bridge you back?"

"No! I mean," Penny cleared her throat and replied in a more refined manner. "Gina didn't wuss out when she first went on a mission with you guys, and neither will I. I'm just going to be a little more careful from here on out."

Optimus chuckled. "That's a reasonable goal. Don't worry, Penny, the Minicons will keep you safe."

"Is anyone else wondering why the Cons are here or is it just me?" Bulkhead asked, shaking dirt and sand from his armor panels. "How did they know we were here? They have nothing to track."

"Except us." Arcee pointed out. "The Cons might've caught us in action and followed us to see what we're up to."

"Or we've lost the advantage of using history to further our role in this Minicon race of ours," Optimus said, walking over to them. "The Decepticons most likely used the same tactic we've employed to find previous un-activated Minicons by using their connection to ancient human civilizations."

"And them being here was just bad luck on our part, right?" Kevin crossed his arms. "That's typical. What else could go wro-mph!"

Tracer had warped to his side and covered his mouth. "Don't say it. Bad things happen when you say it."

"How long do you think we are from our destination?" Ironhide asked. "Because getting blindsided like that has me pissed off and ready for round two."

"Not too long I hope." Tracer mumbled. Then she was hit in the head by a rock. "Ow! What was that?"

Optimus looked up the hill and saw Undertone standing at the top waving them over. "It seems Undertone did some recon for us."

"Nice of him to tell us that" Bulkhead grumbled. "How did he get up there without us noticing?"

"Are you seriously asking that now after his performance back there?" Arcee smirked. His staunch silence aside, she was really starting to like Undertone.

Optimus led the group up the rocky slope to where Undertone was, and when they made it to the top, they found exactly what they were looking for. But it was much more extravagant than what they expected.

The burial grounds of the starcrossed lovers was a tightly kept secret among those who knew of the romance Solomon and Sheba shared. When they died, their bodies were buried in a secret location along with their horde of treasures from their respective kingdoms, as per their last wishes. But seeing the actual tomb in person made the Autobots wonder how it escaped anyone's notice for all these years.

The tomb in question was lying under a massive golden asp made of bronze and iron. It had to be at least 19 feet tall, with smooth scales that were faded with age that gleamed in the sun. The asp was coiling in on itself, with had a staircase running along the length of its body up to the door, which lie at the base of the snake's throat a foot under its head. Autobots and humans alike were in awe at this amazing piece of human architecture but they quickly got to business and approached the statue, walking into the asp's shadow.

"These people must really love their snakes." Bulkhead whistled.

"Well, snakes were sacred animals in Axum culture," Penny said.

"Then what about these guys?" Ironhide nodded his head towards the three statues that sat in front of the asp.

"I think they're statues of Libyan gods, the Ogoad." Penny squinted her eyes up at the statues that loomed over them. "Nyame, Oshun and Aanansi."

The statues that sat in front of the asp were massive, at least 35' tall. Each statue was drastically different than the last; Nyame was the most human of all of them, modeled after a king with a powerful figure and an imposing face. Oshun had a woman's face, but her body was composed of rings of various sizes that made her look like some humanoid slinky. Anansi was the oddest of the three, he had a large arachnid's body with two long, spindly arms that ended in clawed hands and a masked face that sported a wide, jigsaw grin. These statues were meant as wards to warn off intruders and thieves who thought they could waltz into this sacred place and steal from the dead.

'I wonder what happens to people who don't listen to their warning?' Penny thought.

As the humans and Minicons made their way up the stairs, Optimus took out his ion cannon and turned around to the open expanse before him.

"Come out, Megatron! I know you're here." Optimus said.

A silver tank rolled out from under a rock formation and out into the open. It reconfigured into the large form of the Decepticon warlord, his silver and black armor gleaming in the sun. He had a mocking grin on his face as he took in the sight of Optimus and his team.

"You're good, Prime. I was starting to wonder when you were going to notice us." He said, cracking his neck.

"You don't seem surprised to see us here." Optimus pointed out. He glanced back and saw the little ones making their way through the entrance, which he noticed was scorched from an explosion.

"It was a simple distraction plan, nothing else. If you were held back by such a simple-minded plan, then I would've been very displeased."

"Glad we've made your day." Ironhide raised his arm cannons. "Now come closer so we can kick your ass."

"Why rush? It will take a while for our respective Minicons to retrieve the panel we both came here for, so let's take our time and savor the rare experience of killing each other." Megatron lifted his arm and deployed his sword. "We rarely meet like this without something butting its misshapen face into our affairs."

"Stop playing games, Megatron and fight!" Optimus growled.

"Oh, Optimus," Megatron shook his head and snapped his fingers. "Don't you remember? War is a game-a game I intend to win!"

A shadow fell over the Autobots and at Prime's command, they dispersed in different directions just as Soundwave crashed to the ground, a vibro-blade in hand. Without moving, his directed his shoulder-mounted rocket launcher to fire a few rockets at Bulkhead to hold him at bay while Arcee charged at him from the front. He raised his arms to block her forward attacks and back-flipped to escape her ceaseless barrage of quick strikes. She was fast, but he easily matched her blow for blow thanks to his prior experience with fighting martial artists like her. His mainly defensive style kept her at bay as he slowly drew her away from the rest of the fighting, which was quickly heating up.

Megatron charged at Optimus like a bull and closed the distance between them before the Autobot leader could even fire his ion cannon. Optimus ducked under a swipe from his nemesis' sword and drew his energo-axe, spinning it around his body and slashing at him. Megatron blocked the strike, but suffered a kick to the chest that sent him staggering back. Optimus pressed the charge and rammed his shoulder into Megatron's chest plate, smashing the warlord through a boulder and to the ground.

"Get up, Megatron! You don't get to lie down on the job!" Optimus said. Megatron spat at him and leapt up, slamming the barrel of his fusion cannon into Prime's face.

"Don't start with the taunts, Prime! Those get old very quickly!" Megatron cackled. "Nightshade, eradicate Prime's toy soldiers!"

Ironhide looked up and saw the black form of Nightshade in her beast mode swooping down on them from above. His keen eyes saw her feather ports open up to fire her missile darts and motioned for Bulkhead to help him shoot her down. They fired their weapons but she skillfully avoided them as she fired projectiles of her own. Bulkhead grabbed Ironhide's arm and pulled him to the side as the ground around them was set aflame by fiery plumes that rattled the ground like an earthquake. When an explosion blew the two apart, she dived low to the ground and transformed, using her legs to grab hold of Ironhide's neck and twist his body around in the air, sending him spiraling into a fresh explosion.

Bulkhead punched her right wing with his wrecking ball, knocking her forward. She hissed and spun around, slashing deep gouges into his burly chest with her swords. Bulkhead threw another punch at her, but she ducked under his large arm and stabbed forward. She would've gutted him had she not been grabbed from behind and pulled back hard by the wings.

"That's not gonna happen birdie!" Ironhide grunted and threw Nightshade over her body slamming her into the ground.

She flapped her wings and kicked him in the lower abdomen, making him recoil and get herself free. Nightshade lashed out with her swords and Ironhide brought out his hatchet to block her blades. They grappled for a moment, glaring at each other through the sparks created by their blades. Nightshade found herself being pushed back by the larger Autobot's strength and tried to ground herself, only to be forced to jump away when Bulkhead fired a wrecking ball at her. She landed on the ground and powerlinked with Songbird, who transformed into her railgun form and she charged up her attack.

Nightshade pointed her railgun at Ironhide and prepared to fire, but just as she charged her weapon up, Bulkhead threw a flash grenade that he had sitting in his hood. The grenade went off right under her feet and she was recoiled when the blinding flash hurt her sensitive eyes. She fired her railgun and missed Ironhide entirely, hitting the asp's head and blowing it off in a single shot. That misfire caused the entire battle to go in an entirely different direction.

As soon as the asp's head was destroyed, the statues sitting around the snake began to shake, causing the dueling mechanoids to pause in their fighting. What they thought was stone began to fall off the Ogoad, peeling off like dried paint to reveal sleek metal plating underneath. Nyame, Oshun and Anansi shook off their stone shavings and slowly rose to their full heights, old gears and serve-joints creaking and groaning with each movement. Bulkhead looked up at the three newly revealed golems and face-palmed.

"I hate golems." He muttered.

The Ogoad wasted no time in advancing upon what they thought were intruders to their masters' resting place. Designed for the sole purpose of protecting the graves of their king and queen, the golems knew they had a duty to perform and were going to uphold it no matter what enemy they faced. And the only thing that the Autobots and Decepticons could do was meet the golems head on and hold out until their smaller counterparts could find the panel.

XXXXXXX

As the battle was going on above, the children and their Minicon guardians were walking down the stairs that led deeper into the fabled mines under the asp. They haven't even taken a few steps into the mines before they were assaulted by hidden traps, which Undertone took care of immediately. Now they were navigating the large, underground network that composed the heart of the ancient mines.

"This place is every bit as amazing as the stories say they are." Penny marveled. "This is history in the making people, and we've got front row seats to it all."

"Aside from making first contact with aliens." Kevin smirked. Penny scowled at him and smacked his arm.

"Don't ruin the moment, Kevin."

"So, where are we?" Tracer asked. "What's so special about this place?"

"Well according to legend, these mines were once the secret meeting place of where King Solomon and Queen Sheba would meet each other in private." Penny explained. "They loved each other deeply, but they could not be together because of their respective nations' differences in religion, culture and beliefs. They courted each other in secret and even had a child that stayed with Sheba, but ultimately they died apart from each other."

"That's a bit stupid." Tracer frowned. "What's the point of being king or queen if you can't do whatever you want?"

"Love is seldom simple, Tracer." Kevin shrugged.

"These gold mines were a testament to their love, some say that it was Sheba's gift to Solomon, but others say that all of it was a testament of Solomon's love for Sheba." Penny continued. "But the fact is that all of this is a sign of just how strong love is, even when both spouses are restricted to different parts of the world."

"This all just sounds so complicated. Couldn't they just say how they feel about each other and save everyone the trouble?"

"If only it were that easy, Tracer." Penny sighed and glanced at Kevin. Emotions were a fickle thing, and people's reactions and fears only made it harder to everyone involved.

They left the bridge and walked through a few narrow corridors until they reached a pathway that led between a natural narrow canyon that only went in one direction. It was just big enough that only two people could go through it at a time, and the walls were lined with torches that barely provided any decent light a foot above their heads. Kevin hummed at the sketchy looking path and took a step forward, only to be pulled back by Undertone to avoid a missile that hit the ground before them. Tracer shielded Penny from the debris sent at them and drew her laser pistol, pointing it up at the darkness above them.

"Where did that come from?" Penny asked.

"No clue." Tracer replied, keeping an eye on the area above them. "I can't see anyone."

Another attack came at them from above, this time it was a ruby colored laser beam that came at them in the blink of an eye. Tracer was too slow to react in time, but Undertone was quick on the draw, jumping in front of the girls and slashing the beam apart with his swords. He looked up at the spot where the laser came from and Kevin followed his line of sight.

"Let's shed some light on the situation." Kevin took a deep breath and exhaled, releasing a large plume of flames that reached high into the air, at least two feet. The bright flames did indeed give a lot of visibility to them, but they didn't see anything that could be important to them.

"I think our hit man just bailed on us." Tracer said, but Undertone shook his head and tapped her shoulder. He had a plan that he wanted to share with her.

From her perch on one of the ledges high above the group, Laserbeak monitored their movements. He was completely out of sight, far from the reach of the boy's flames and undetectable to their sensors. They couldn't see him, but he could easily take pot shots at them without having to worry about having to deal with return fire. As he adjusted his position on the ledge, he noticed that the white Minicon was missing.

"What? Where did he go?" Laserbeak muttered, looking around for the Minicon. He looked over the side and saw Tracer using her whips to scale the wall to reach him. "Not so fast!"

Laserbeak swooped down from the ledge and fired his laser cannons at Tracer. But he was caught off guard to see the twin lasers shoot right through her and hit the wall behind her, causing her image to fizzle out like a bad tv signal. It was a holomatter! He tried to get back to his position, but a large fireball hit him in the right wing, sending him spinning in place and out of control.

"You got him, Kevin! Roast that birdy!" Penny cheered. Kevin raised his arms and fired a long stream of flames from his hands, practically smothering the Con in intense, red hot flames that felt excruciating to him.

Laserbeak tried to fly away, but the real Tracer sent out her whips to entrap his wings so he couldn't move. He tried to break free, firing his laser cannons in all directions, but it did him no good as Tracer's weight started to pull him down. He was so preoccupied with staying in the air that he failed to notice Undertone come down on him from above until he had two swords stabbed into his wings and they both were falling fast. Undertone stayed on him until the last possible second, and then jumped off Laserbeak just as the Minicon hit the ground hard enough to send pieces of his armor flying off.

Penny and Kevin approached the Minicon warily.

"Who's the bird?" Penny asked.

"Laserbeak, one of Soundwave's bots." Tracer answered, lightly kicking the wounded Con's bobbing head. "If he's here, then chances are that he's not alone. Rumble, Frenzy and Ravage must be here to."

"Not counting me, that's three against two." Kevin noted and shook his head. "Not very good odds."

"Numbers are not important in battle." Undertone said for the first time that day. "It is the quality of the warriors fighting that matters."

Everyone else looked at him in shock before Tracer smiled and patted Undertone on the back.

"He's right. The two of us are more than enough against the terror twins and robo-kitty. But we need to get a move on, or else we won't get a chance to dance." She said happily, giving Undertone a big smile. "I knew you were a cool guy, Undertone."

Penny raised a finger. "Before we go, I wanna do something first."

Laserbeak weakly lifted his head and saw Penny march over to him. The last thing he saw was Penny's combat booted foot heading towards his face before everything went black.

XXXXXXX

Megatron was once again cursing his rotten luck on this god forsaken planet as he ducked under a swipe from Nyame's oversized broadsword. The kingly golem was armed with two swords, and wielded them with astounding skill and efficiency. Nightshade and Soundwave had regrouped to fight Nyame, but the golem kept them on their toes, scattering them just long enough that they couldn't come together to formulate a plan. It was so bad that Nightshade had to forgo using Gandiva to avoid getting skewered by the golem's large swords.

Megatron switched to his tank mode and drove around Nyame's feet, firing his fusion cannon at its legs. His aim was on point, but any satisfaction he had at getting a direct hit died out when he saw that the beams were being diffused by some kind of energy barrier around the golem's legs that protected its most vulnerable parts. This energy field emanated from the tiny, barely noticeable crystals buried in Nyame's armor.

'As if my hatred for these machines couldn't be any greater.' Megatron thought.

Soundwave ran behind Nyame and fired a few rockets from his launcher and to his surprise, the projectiles hit their mark at the small of the golem's back, making it stumble forward. Though he only managed to blast off some of its armor, he learned something that could gain them an advantage.

"Suggestion: use physical weapons. Energy attacks are ineffective." He said, leaping back to avoid getting smashed into the ground by Nyame's fist.

Nightshade caught onto his meaning at once and shifted to beast mode, flying up to Nyame's height. She unleashed a volley of missile darts from her wings that littered its right side with explosions, sending it stumbling. Despite its momentary loss of balance, Nyame was still in the game, and it showed this by throwing one of its swords at Megatron. The Decepticon warlord transformed to robot mode and jumped out of the sword's way as it crashed into the ground next to him. But he wasn't expecting Nyame to suddenly rush towards him, or the giant fist that slammed into his left side. The punch broke his left arm immediately and sent him flying almost a mile across the ground before he skidded to a stop.

Soundwave continued to fire his rockets at Nyame, but did little to seriously damage the golem's tough armor. Nyame tried to cut him in two but Soundwave flipped out of the way, allowing Nightshade some room to fly in low and land on its leg. She transformed and brought out her swords, hacking away at its Achilles heel. Her energon powered swords cut into its steel armor, slicing through the metal sheets and severing vital power conduits arranged in a tendon-like formation around the golem's iron skeleton. Once she got a good hit in, the effect was instantaneous and Nyame fell to one knee.

"Just die already!" Nightshade growled.

"Kraaahh!" Megatron ran up and jumped on to Nyame's back. He looked as good as he felt, sporting a broken left arm that looked like it was sent through a grinder and the left side of his torso was caved in, spewing sparks. He reached into his hip compartment and pulled out a hilt, which generated an energo-mace, a weapon that he rarely used but always had on hand in case his weapons were out of commission. He began slamming the spiked weapon into the back of Nyame's head, trying to bash its skull in the old fashioned way.

Nyame grabbed at Megatron and threw him to the ground, but Megatron retaliated with a blast to the face from his fusion cannon. The attack didn't pierce the golem's energy barrier, but the explosion covered its vision. While it was blinded, Nightshade flew onto its shoulders and stabbed her swords into its neck cables. Nyame let out a mechanical groan and tried to swat Nightshade off it, but she continued hacking away at whatever she could get her hands on, stabbing in between the armor panels. It wasn't long before the loss of power from its internal core caused it to slow down, and Nightshade finished it with a final stab that severed the connections in its neck. Nyame's movements slowed to a crawl before it stopped moving altogether. Once she was sure it was dead, Nightshade pulled her swords out, and kicked its head off its shoulders out of spite.

"Get off me!" Megatron pushed Soundwave away before the spymaster could attempt to help him up. He spat out a glob of energon and held his limp arm.

"You're hurt," Nightshade pointed out as she jumped down to them. "I'll call Knockout for a med-evac."

"Do that and you'll be spending the next few months walking home!" Megatron hissed. "I am not leaving here until I get what I came for!"

Nightshade scowled, not at all cowled by her leader's rage. "Do you really think you can fight those things in your condition? You can barely speak without coughing!"

"My orders are absolute, Nightshade!"

"I don't care! Your well being comes first before the mission!"

Before their lovers spat could continue, Nightshade was hit from behind by a stream of liquid that pinned her to a boulder. The strange fluid solidified immediately upon contact and trapped her entire body sans her head, wings and all. Megatron and Soundwave turned to see the spider-like form of Anansi crawling towards them, still wearing that eerie smile on its mask-like face as it approached the two Cons.

"What is that abomination doing here? I thought it was fighting the Autobots!" Megatron snarled.

Acting on a hunch, he turned to look at the Autobots, who were fighting Oshun. He saw Optimus give him a mocking two-fingered salute before returning to his fight. It didn't take long for Megatron to put the pieces together.

Megatron's enraged scream could be heard for miles in the Libyan countryside.

XXXXXX

After their confrontation with Laserbeak, the retrieval team had to walk through a winding maze of tunnels that would've gotten them lost had Undertone not taken charge during this part of the trip. Thanks to him, they managed to avoid the dead ends and make it to a large cavern that had some kind of deep pit in the middle. There was solid ground at the bottom, but it was way too deep for any poor soul to get out on their own, a natural cage. The only way across was an old, rickety bridge that dint look very inviting at all.

Kevin looked up at the ceiling and saw trickles of sand leaking through tightly sealed seams that were barely noticeable. "That doesn't look promising."

"The ceiling looks like it's about to cave in." Tracer said.

"That's probably the whole point. It's meant to dump a desert on us if we make a wrong move." Penny frowned and rubber her chin. "Gotta admit, these guys knew their stuff when it came to snuffing out grave robbers."

"If you're done praising the ancients, Penny," Kevin said. "We should get a move on. Soundwave's pets are probably already at the treasury by now."

Kevin took a step towards the bridge, but Undertone held him back. Before he could ask what the Minicon was doing, Undertone pointed across the bridge, where two figures now stood. Tracer recognized the red and blue forms of Frenzy and Rumble.

"What's up Autobrats?" Rumble grinned. "How was Laserbeak? Did he make you go cold turkey?"

"Wow that was a bad joke, even for me." Tracer groaned.

"We'd love to stay and beat your collective asses, but we're on a tight schedule." Frenzy said. "Bro, waste them!"

Rumble shifted his large arms into pile drivers and began hammering the ground intensely. The vibrations generated from his body traveled through his arms into the ground and reverberated throughout the cavern. Rumble was effectively creating a localized earthquake. Kevin shot a few fireballs at the Minicon but Tracer pulled him back before the falling rocks could crush him. Undertone looked up and saw the already broken ceiling starting to break apart from the vibrations.

"Have fun with our sand castle scrubs!" Rumble cackled and ran into the tunnel with his brother as the tremors got worse.

Undertone pulled the kids back as the ceiling finally gave way and a flood of sand began to descend into the cavern. Thousands of pounds of sand flowed in from the surface like a waterfall, and everyone's vision was obscured by the sand particles in the air. Kevin and Penny had to cover their nose and mouths to avoid breathing in the sand cloud as the Minicons stood over them to make sure they were protected. So powerful was the sand flow that it obliterated the bottom of the pit, punching through the floor and falling through the lower chambers down below.

It would be another 2 minutes for the sand to taper off, shrinking into a trickled before fading away entirely. Once the dust settled and the group got their visibility back, they got a good look at the damage the sand had caused. The bridge was gone, as was part of the cliff it was connected to and there was a massive hole at the bottom of the pit where the sand had punched straight through the thick layer of rock. Penny looked down and whistled as she realized that she could see all the way to the lower levels of the mines.

"Damn that was a lot of sand. I didn't think it could do that much damage." She remarked and sighed. "But we don't have a bridge to cross now. How are we going to catch up to them now?"

"Maybe we can jump across." Tracer suggested. "I can use my whips, and I'm pretty sure it's no trouble for Undertone. Hopefully the rock isn't weak from that overflow of kitty litter."

Kevin hummed and looked down at the hole in the pit. He only needed a second to figure out a plan that may or may not work in the worst way possible.

"Why don't we climb down?" He suggested. That caught the others' attention.

"Climb down? As in try to go straight down nearly two stories of floors without climbing equipment?" Penny looked at her best friend with no small amount of skepticism. "How is that going to work? Surely there's a better, safer idea to try out."

"Penny, we've wasted enough time dealing with Laserbeak and almost getting buried under half a desert worth's of sand. We can't play it safe anymore." He insisted.

"I don't know, it seems really risky. I'm not sure if I can manage that." Tracer said, unsure about the idea.

Undertone stepped forward and studied the hole. After a minute, he looked at the others and nodded his agreement with the plan, drawing his swords and motioning for Kevin to get on his back.

"Looks like Undertone is on board." Kevin smiled and turned to the girls. "Ladies, the choice is yours."

Penny and Tracer looked at each other. When Tracer shrugged, Penny groaned and patted her cheeks, gearing up for one of the many difficulties that came with being a member of the human/Minicon retrieval team.

"Alright, we'll do this the hard way!" She grumbled. "Let's get this over with before I wuss out."

XXXXXXX

The vault where King Solomon and Queen Sheba kept their treasures was located at the bottom level of the mines, which was also the most fortified against intruders. The chamber that held the vault was lavishly decorated, with smooth, partly chipped walls that were a beautiful shade of aqua marine that had tiled murals depicting mythical creatures from the deceased rulers' respective kingdoms. The support columns were made of a dark limestone that was only slightly faded with age, much like the rest of the chamber. As for the vault itself, it lied behind two large doors made of adamantium, the world's strongest metal, with two gold plated engravings of Solomon and Sheba touching hands.

Blasting through the doors hadn't yielded any results, as Rumble and Frenzy quickly learned. Even Rumble's pile driver arms barely made a dent in it. Adamantium was a hardy metal after all-difficult to find, difficult to break. Ravage was the one to make a connection when Frenzy accidentally summoned some sort of orb from the ceiling upon stepping onto one of the two platforms in front of the door. When the same thing happened on Rumble's side, it presented an idea that the feline Minicon was willing to test out.

"Stand on the platforms, both of you." Ravage ordered.

"Hey, who died and made you boss?" Rumble protested. Ravage peeled his lips back in a snarl at the challenge to his authority.

"You will if you don't listen to my orders!" He growled.

"Okay, okay we'll do it." Frenzy said, punching Rumble in the shoulder. He wasn't going to piss off the robo-kitty that was twice his size.

The brothers stepped onto their platforms and the orbs appeared before them again. When they touched the orbs, nothing happened, prompting Frenzy to ask what to do next.

"Try touching them at the same time." Ravage said.

The twins followed his orders, touching their orbs at exactly the same time. When they did that, twin beams of light shot from the eyes of the lovers on the door, running up and down the two Minicons, scanning them. Ravage waited impatiently for some results, and after a minute he got it, but not what he was expecting. Once the beams were done scanning, they turned from green to red and the Mini-Cons let out pained yelps as they felt their armor burning before they were blasted off their platforms.

"What is this trickery?" Ravage growled. "I thought that was how the doors opened! What went wrong?"

"Frag this!" Frenzy took out his blaster and pointed it at the doors. "I'm gonna mess that pretty painting up."

"You will no such thing!" Ravage exclaimed, hissing at the red mech. "Not until we know what we're dealing with. Or maybe you want to tell Megatron how we lost the panel because you had an itchy trigger finger?"

Frenzy gritted his teeth and lowered his weapon, but his anger didn't subside. "You weren't just zapped by a fraggin' heat ray! How about you stand up there and see if anything different happens."

"Yeah, do something useful for once instead of barking orders!" Rumble shouted.

Ravage calmly stared at them with his thin red eyes. He was just as frustrated as they were, but he hid it a lot better, which was luck for them. But that patience was growing thin and if these two scrapheads continued to whine about his leadership skills, Soundwave was going to be short one Minicon. It was of no consequence to him. There were always casualties in war, friendly fire being one of them.

A loud noise from the hall alerted the three Minicons and they turned to the entrance. Rumble and Frenzy ran to the doorway and pointed their weapons at it and Ravage stood ready to pounce at the first sign of the intruder. When the unintended visitor made their appearance, Ravage almost leapt at him but stopped himself at the last minute.

"Laserbeak?" Ravage said, surprised to see his fellow beast here of all places. "What are you doing here?"

"I came from canyon," Laserbeak said in his broken speech patterns. He landed on top of a rock as he gave his report. "Minicons and humans stalled, but not for long. Need panel now."

"We're workin' on that. Rumble grumbled. "But the damn door has been givin' us problems."

Ravage narrowed his eyes at Laserbeak, sniffing at the bird-like deployer. "What took you so long to get here? It shouldn't have taken you so long to find us."

"Got mixed up." Laserbeak answered. "There was another room like this one and I got lost trying to find you."

That made the other three Mini-Cons pause as they processed what he just said. Then Frenzy asked the golden question.

"Another…room?"

Laserbeak nodded. "Were you not listening? Another room, exactly like this one. What's the problem?"

Ravage was once again glad that he didn't have a short fuse, lest he would've gone into a feral rage and tore up half the chamber in his anger. Working with Soundwave has taught him to control his more…bestial side so that it didn't make him waste time or do things that he would come to regret later. He had a job to do, and he was going to get it done in the most efficient way possible.

"That explains why the door isn't opening. We're in the wrong room with booby traps." He said to himself. "Hurry, we must head to the other room before the humans find it!"

The Minicons left the chamber and went back down the tunnel to the fork in the path they bypassed. Not long after they were gone, Kevin and Penny came out of their hiding place and ran into the chamber. Penny gasped at the room and quickly took a couple of pictures of the place with her camera that she brought along (she wasn't sure if she was going to get another chance like this ever again, so she came prepared).

"Let's get to work. Undertone's trick won't fool them for long." Kevin said. He walked up to the door and tapped his knuckles against it. "Any ideas on how to open this thing? I doubt my flames can melt through this."

Penny joined him and ran her fingers along the smooth ridges of the murals. When they were hiding, she noticed that Rumble and Frenzy tried to open the doors using some kind of ancient built-in scanning mechanism. Such technology may have looked unusual for a civilization that hasn't even discovered electricity yet, but many cultures around the world utilized Arian technology without even realizing what it was or how to properly use it. It was just another thing about the Arians that people will never understand just yet.

"Penny!"

"Huh? Oh right, sorry." Penny stepped back from the door. "Okay, from what I've seen, the door is equipped with some kind of scanning device or something that probably was made to keep unwanted visitors out."

"Like fingerprint scanners that some high tech companies and banks use?" Kevin questioned.

"Yeah, only this one will fry you if you're not the right person on the list. We've got to be careful about this."

Kevin looked at the platform and stepped up on it, causing the orb from earlier to appear from above. "I think they did it like this…"

He touched the orb, but nothing happened this time. The mural on the door did not scan him like it did Rumble. "It's not working."

"Let me try." Penny got on the other platform and touched her orb as it appeared, but just like Kevin, the mural of King Solomon opposite her did not scan her. "Oh this is not good."

"What do we do Penny?" Kevin asked.

"I don't know, but we need to think of something fast!" Penny bit her lip. "I don't think Tracer and Undertone can hold the Cons off for any longer."

XXXXXX

"I knew something was up!" Ravage growled. "Typical of an assassin to think up a trick like this!"

Things went downhill the minute Ravage and his cohorts entered the other chamber. The room that "Laserbeak" had told them about was nothing like the one they left. It lacked the majesty and splendor that the other chamber had, with cracked walls and fallen pillars lying shattered on the ground, with no large vault doors hiding their much awaited prize. Just as Ravage was about to pounce on Laserbeak for wasting their time, he was surprised to see the form of the bird Minicon waver and morph into that of the Autobots' white Minicon Undertone, who had disguised himself using a holomatter generator!

"Kill them!" Ravage roared.

"Already on it!" Rumble slammed his fists together and leapt forward to crush the Minicons' skulls in his claws. But Undertone met him halfway and stabbed his swords into Rumble's large arms, kicking him in the face and slammed his head into the ground.

Frenzy jumped at him with his drill hands to gore him, but Undertone, despite being nearly as tall as the deployer, expertly weaved his body around Frenzy's form and used his weight to throw the red mech into the wall. Rumble came at him from behind and swung a large metal fist at him, but Undertone ducked under the punch and slashed an X into his chest, back flipping over Frenzy's surprise attack and jumping onto his back to pin him to the ground.

As for Tracer, she was using her time stop abilities to warp around the room, running circles around Ravage as she fired her laser pistols at him. The black jaguar growled and directed his back mounted machine gun to mow her down with hundreds of rounds being fired per second. Trace dodged most of them, taking cover to avoid the rounds that she couldn't escape, and fired a bolt from one of her stingers. The bolt hit Ravage in the left leg, making him stumble, and allowing her to run out of cover and lash out at him with one of her electro-whips. Ravage jumped back to avoid the dangerous coils, but he was too slow to avoid the second whip that left a gash in his left side.

"You glitch!" He snarled and snapped at her, but she jumped back with a giggle and warped away from him. "Enough of this farce!"

He waited for her to come into his sights before firing a proton bomb from the missile pod on his hind leg. Tracer jumped to the side to avoid getting hit, but the bomb exploded with enough force to send her crashing into a wall, leaving a dent in the stone. Ravage grinned and fired another bomb at her inert form, but his satisfaction was curbed when Undertone appeared before her and kicked the bomb to the side, knocking it to where Frenzy was standing.

"Oh slag!" He cursed. The bomb detonate just a few feet away from him and he was blasted away by the explosion wave, flames licking at his right side as he bounced off the ground and hit the wall.

"Bro! You're gonna pay for that ninja-boy!" Rumble snarled and prepared to hammer his arms into the ground when Ravage head-butted him off his feet. "What the hell are you doing?"

"You'll bring the entire mine down on us if you use your pile drivers here you fool!" Ravage hissed. "Use your head!"

Frenzy hissed in pain as he got up, his right arm and shoulder smoking and sizzling from being near the intense flames. He glared at Undertone, who was helping Tracer to her feet. Powering up his enhanced vocoders, he took a deep breath.

"No, stop!" Ravage yelled.

Frenzy ignored Ravage's warnings and released his high-pitched sonic scream that sounded even more devastating when heard in an enclosed space. Friend and foe were seriously affected by the deafening shriek, but the actual sonic wave was directed at the two Minicons. Undertone pushed Tracer away and let the sonic wave hit him dead on, crashing into his body like a train and sending him crashing into the wall, pinning him with pure soundwaves alone.

"That's it bro! Torch that cog sucker!" Rumble cheered, though he could barely be heard over the noise.

Frenzy slowly walked towards the trapped Undertone, increasing the pressure on the white mech until his front chest plate started to dent from the dense sound waves hitting his body. But just as he was about to turn up the juice even more, a long blade was stabbed into his back and extended through his abdomen. Tracer, who had taken Undertone's discarded sword and warped behind Frenzy, lifted the Mini-Con's body over her head and slammed him into the ground.

"Bro!" Rumble exclaimed and slammed his large arms into the ground. "You're gonna pay for that you glitch!"

Tracer ripped the blade from Frenzy's stomach and glared at the two Mini-Cons. "You can come over here and make me. If you have the bearings for it."

XXXXXXX

Bulkhead was once again wondering what was this planet's fascination with all things gigantic. He and the other Autobots just learned that the thin, flexible Oshun golem was more dangerous than it let on. Though it looked like a glorified slinky, in reality, its body was composed of thin blades sharp enough to cut through solid stone. As Optimus just learned from a particularly close call, it made short work of Cybertronian armor as well.

It carved gouges into the ground as it slashed its long arms at the Autobots, forcing them to be quick on their toes lest they be cut to ribbons. The stoic look on Oshun's face didn't help their worsening mood either.

"How long are the brats gonna take down there?" Ironhide complained as he fired his arm cannons at Oshun. The golem waved around his missiles and fission charges before cracking a whip-like arm at him forcing him to roll to the side to avoid being cut in half. "What are they doing down there, sight-seeing?"

"If you think you can do a better job, Hide, you're welcome to join them." Bulkhead grunted, firing a laser blast at it.

"Don't start with me, Bulk. I'm not in the mood-gah!" Ironhide winced as one of Oshun's sharp fingers left a gash in his shoulder.

"Cut the chatter and kill the thing!" Arcee shouted.

She and Optimus opened fire on Oshun from both sides, but the golem was smart enough to keep everyone of the Autobots in its line of sights. When Optimus tried to shoot its leg, Oshun moved the limb and responded by kicking Optimus hard in the chest. As he crashed to the ground on his back, Oshun advanced upon him, spinning its arms in tight circles in a fashion similar to a saw. Looking down at Optimus, it stabbed its arm down at him.

"No you don't!" Bulkhead ran in and grabbed Oshun's arm, wincing as he felt its sharps finger blades cut into his arms and chest.

Oshun merely looked down at the Autobot trying to hold it down, and lifted its arm. Bulkhead yelped as he was pulled off the ground and found himself staring the golem right into its crystal blue eyes.

"Uh, hi?" He said nervously.

Oshun simply slammed Bulkhead into the ground once before flinging him into the air. In an unexpected move, Oshun opened its mouth to reveal a yellow crystals crackling with electricity. Bulkhead was in no position to dodge as he was hit in the chest by a strong bolt of lightning that sent him crashing into the ground. With one Autobot down, it turned its attention o Arcee and Ironhide, who were not feeling very good about their chances now.

"Well this is going about as good as I predicted." Ironhide muttered.

XXXXXX

"Come on, Penny, we need to think of something quick." Kevin urged his friend. He could hear more explosions through the thick walls and it wasn't helping in keeping them calm.

"I'm thinking, I'm thinking! Shit," Penny rarely cursed, but the stress was getting to her now. "Maybe it only lets people in on certain conditions. Like those tombs in Azteca."

"What does that have to do with our problem here?" Kevin asked.

"In Azteca, the Mayans made these secret vaults that could only be opened by mimicking different poses depicted in paintings or by statues. Maybe it's the same here, just more primitive." Penny then had an idea. "I think I've got it."

Penny hopped off the platform and dragged Kevin off his, and she made him switch positions with her. Once they were facing the king and queen respectively, Penny got to the part that made her a little flustered.

"Okay, we just have to match the positions of the people on the mural. And that includes us getting a bit…close." She blushed.

"How close?" Kevin raised an eyebrow. He looked at the mural and gulped. "Oh, that close."

Penny cleared her throat. "Yeah. But chin up Kevin. We're doing this for a good cause."

"You make it seem like I don't like this." He grinned.

"Shut up and hold me!"

Kevin and Penny stood facing each other on their platforms, standing so close that their noses were practically touching. Trying, and failing, to hide their embarrassment, the two children looked into each other's eyes and stayed in that position as they both touched the orbs at the same time. The eyes on the murals began to scan them from head to toe, taking a few seconds to finish the job before fading away. For a moment, they thought it didn't work, but then they heard a loud groan and turned to see the doors starting to slowly slide open.

"Oh my god, it actually worked?" Kevin gaped. Penny squealed and hugged him around the neck tightly.

"It worked! We did it!"

But their joyous moment was cut short when they saw Tracer run into the chamber looking like she had been through hell and back. She was dented in several areas and was leaking energon from bite marks and cuts along her arms and legs.

"You better make it snappy, loves." Tracer panted. "We've got company comin'!"

Just as she said that, Ravage came at her from behind, roaring like the animal he was. She jumped to the side as he hit the ground, but Ravage continued on his rampage towards the children. Tracer cracked her whip and wrapped it around Ravage's neck, stopping him short. He tried to press forward, but even in her weakened state, she was still strong enough to hold him back.

"Penny, go inside and get the panel." Kevin told her.

"What? But what about you two?" She asked.

"We'll hold the line here, obviously, but someone needs to go and that someone is you." He said. "This is your time to shine, Penny, I'm just the bodyguard."

Penny bit her lip in worry, but when Kevin gave her a reassuring smile, she relented and ran past the doors and into the hallway. Ravage snarled as he saw the girl run in to steal his "prize".

"No!" He swung his upper body around, pulling Tracer off her feet and swing her around in front of him. He leapt at her to cut her in two, but Tracer froze time and quickly jumped on to his back.

When time resumed, Ravage found Tracer riding on his back like an alien cowgirl, firing her stingers into his back. It hurt badly, and he tried to buck her off, but she wasn't getting off until she had her proper revenge for earlier. When she was done, Tracer jumped off Ravage, using his head a foothold, and flipped around in the air to land next to Kevin.

"Where's Undertone?"

"In the tunnels taking care of twiddle dee and twiddle dum. He's hurt but he'll manage." She explained.

They looked at Ravage, who glared at them through cracked optical shutters. Then another combatant joined the fray, the wounded, but still operational, Laserbaeak. Kevin bit back a curse and covered his arms in orange flames.

"No one gets in until Penny can get back with the panel." He said.

"No need to tell me, love." Tracer grinned and readied her stingers. "Let's put these animals back in the Zoo!"

XXXXXX

Penny didn't stop at all as she ran through the dusty halls. Her lungs burned and her legs hurt, but she kept on running, knowing that every second wasted was a chance that Kevin and Tracer could be injured, or worse. She just hoped that stupid panel was here or else this day would go south for everyone involved.

After turning another corner, Penny finally made it into the treasury. The first thing that she registered was the smell. The treasury was musty from not having any fresh air for nearly a thousand years, sealed air tight with no one opening it since it was first closed. But that was the last thing she cared about as she saw the gold. Mountains and mountains of gold. And jewelry, can't forget about that. Granted the goods were all dusty and a bit faded in color. That didn't stop her from gushing over it all.

Here she was, standing in King Solomon's fabled mines, standing midst his legendary collection of gold that hundreds of people have died for. Finally, something she could lord over Gina! Sure it paled in comparison to being the first to discover an alien race, but it was still something worth bragging about.

Another explosion brought her out of her moment, and she remembered why she was here in the first place. She was here for the Minicon panel…but that didn't stop her from snatching up a couple of jewels wherever she could find them. Having pilfered enough jewels and necklaces to make her pockets bulge, Penny got to work in digging through the gold piles to find the panel. She had no idea where to look, and she didn't have time to search the entire vault.

Then she heard something whisper in her ear, and she turned to where she heard it to see something sticking out of the mountain of gold trinkets. It was a small ring with a crystal lavender rose, with a chain passing through the ring. Curiously she tugged on it, and found out that it was wrapped around something. She pulled harder and was shocked to see that it was wrapped around the panel!

"Well smack me twice and call me Sally." Penny grinned and grabbed the panel. She looked up and smiled at the tall statue of Queen Sheba. "Thank you."

XXXXXX

"I remember you," Ravage said as he circled around Kevin. "You're the fire breather from before. You and your friends caused me a lot of pain that day."

"You act like I care." Kevin shot back.

Ravage leapt at him, but Tracer kicked him to the ground and started shooting at him. Kevin looked up and saw Laserbeak flying at him. The Mini-Con fired laser from his wing-mounted cannons and Kevin jumped to the side and shot a couple of fireballs at him. Laserbeak cawed and swooped through the air, avoiding the blazing projectiles with ease. Kevin gritted his teeth and took a deep breath, charging his energy for a massive strike. When Laserbeak flew in for another assault, Kevin released a massive fireball that came at Laserbeak like a meteor. The Minicon tried to avoid it, but the blast was too large and he was engulfed in a plume of flames that blasted him out of the sky. Burned and disoriented, Laserbeak crashed into the wall and slumped to the ground.

Tracer leapt and flipped across the room, shooting at Ravage and avoiding the machine gun trying to riddle her with holes. Ravage fired his proton bomb, but Tracer warped a good distance away just as it exploded, leaving a giant hole in the wall.

"Nice try, but that trick won't work on me again." She taunted.

"Then I'll have to do this old school." Ravage sneered and pounced at Tracer. But a fireball caught him in his eyes and he fell to the ground, trying to see through the smoke. Kevin ran in, bathing Ravage in a stream of flames that slowly made him back up to avoid the inferno.

"Come on, go down already!" Kevin growled.

"It'll take more than this," Ravage grunted, wincing from the burns on his armor. "To bring me down, human. Now die!"

Suddenly Frenzy's body was thrown from the tunnel and hit Ravage dead center, followed by a shuriken that was embedded in Frenzy's leg. As they crashed into the wall, the shuriken exploded, blasting them apart and sending them into different parts of the chamber.

Tracer and Kevin saw Undertone jump into the room, followed by Rumble who was trying to smash him to scrap. Undertone lacked any weapons, but he was doing a good job holding the larger Mini-Con at bay. Rumble snarled in frustration at not being able to hit Undertone, but he got his chance when Undertone landed on his wounded leg and tried to crush his head in his claws. Undertone grabbed Rumble's hands and struggled to hold them off, his joints creaking from the pressure.

"You're good fly boy, but not strong enough to beat me." Rumble grinned evily. "No one is stronger than me!"

Tracer appeared next to him and stabbed Undertone's katana into his shoulder. Rumble reared back in pain and Undertone used this distraction to break free and retrieve his sword. Before Rumble had a chance to recover, Undertone slashed at his face, shattering his visor and gouging out his optics.

"AHHHH!" Rumble cried out in pain, but he didn't have to go through this agony for long as Undertone slammed his feet into his face and brutally crunched his head into the hard stone wall. He was knocked out immediately.

"Nice job man! Never gets old to see a ninja in action!" Kevin smiled.

"Guys, guys!" Penny ran into the room, holding the panel in her arms with pockets full of valuables. "I've got the panel and I'm ready to…" She looked around at the heavily damaged chamber and the battered Mini-Cons lying on the ground. "Wow, what did I miss?"

"Nothing much, just a cool ass whooping." Kevin grinned. "Now let's get out of here and call the Autobots."

XXXXXXX

"Hya!" Optimus felt Oshun's sharp fingers stab into his shoulder just as he severed its arm with his sword. Oshun attacked him again, but he leapt away, tearing the fingers from his body.

"Ow, ow!" Careful, Arcee, it stings." Bulkhead complained as Arcee helped him up.

"Stop being a baby, it's not that serious." She said. She looked down at the wound he got from Oshun's pot shot. It was nothing more than a large scorch mark on his rotund belly, barely reaching an inch into his thick armor. Had he been any weaker, the blast could've done some serious damage. "We're barely making progress with this thing, but at least the Cons aren't doing any better than us."

Bulkhead looked back up the hill and saw Megatron and Soundwave still battling Anansi. Its speed and fast reflexes made fighting it difficult on top of Nightshade's current predicament and Megtron's injuries. Blackout had joined them, but all he was doing was pissing the golem off even more.

"How long do you think it'll take them to beat it?" Bulkhead wondered.

"Probably another hour, if not half that time." Arcee answered.

Optimus jogged over to Ironhide and helped the red Autobot to his feet after he was punted a good three feet by Oshun. Just when he was wondering if the children and Minicons were alright, he got the call he was waiting for.

" _Optimus, we've got the panel and we're heading back to the surface_!" Tracer reported. " _We need an immediate exit!"_

"Copy that, Tracer." Optimus said and called the Ark. "Teletran, we need a ground bridge at Minicon Tracer and Minicon Undertone's location. Autobots, fall back to a secondary position away from the statue."

"But won't the golem chase us along the way?" Arcee inquired. "That thing is persistent."

"I know what I'm doing," Optimus powered up his ion cannon. "Now go!"

Optimus fired a shot at Oshun, catching its attention and drawing it away from the asp just as the ground bridge appeared in front of the entrance. Oshun followed Prime, slashing at him and also firing a few bolts from its mouth. Optimus transformed to truck mode and drove up the hill to where the Cons were fighting Anansi. He didn't even stop when he rammed into Soundwave, knocking the spymaster off his feet as he sped past. Behind him, Oshun stomped up the hill, nearly crushing Soundwave as it pursued rime. As for Megatron, he saw a ground bridge appear in front of his nemesis and cursed.

"No!" Megatron fired his fusion cannon at Optimus, but the Prime reverted to his robot mode and jumped into the ground bridge, giving Megatron a mock salute as he vanished into the portal.

At this point, Megatron was at his wits end, knowing full well that he had lost the panel and that all the trouble they went through to get there was for nothing now. But then a large shadow fell over him and he looked up to see the soulless eyes of Oshun staring down at him, a parting gift from Optimus. That made Megatron lose it.

"PRIME!"

XXXXXXX

"Holy slag, he actually did that?" Runway laughed. Tracer nodded as she continued her story.

"Yup, Optimus just gives Megatron the most insulting salute I have ever seen just as he went into the bridge. It was gold!"

"Ha! Who knew Prime could be such a troll? I love the guy!" Sonar cackled.

As Tracer relayed the misson to the Air Defense Team, the others were gathered around the new addition to their roster, Fixit. He was a bright orange mech with wheels instead of legs who transformed into a mining vehicle with drills for hands, and a large head with big blue eyes that just shined with curiosity-and a little bit of insanity.

"Welcome to Terra, Fixit. My name is Gina." Gina introduced herself to the Minicon.

"You're a human, right? You certainly look outstanding." Fixit rolled up to Gina and looked her up and down. "I've never seen an organic before. So what type of boil-zzt-coil-zzt-oil do you drink?"

"Um, we don't drink oil." The blonde said slowly, caught off guard by his glitch. "Are you alright?"

"Oh, I'm fine. Just a little stitch-zzt-snitch-zzt-glitch in m processor I was born with. Nothing to worry about." Fixit said, unconcerned with his constant fallouts.

On the side, Penny and Annie watched their new arrival converse with everyone jovially, despite fizzing out every five seconds.

"I don't think that's ever going to get old." Annie said.

"No sir." Penny agreed.

After a minute of silence, Annie asked, "You snag any bling down there?"

"Damn right I did!"

Penny emptied her pockets and the girls shifted through the pile of gold and jewels that Penny pilfered from the ancient vault. Annie got a monopoly on the rubies and emeralds, and diamonds, anything that wasn't gold seeing as she wasn't a fan of it that much. They weren't that fancy to her in comparison to sparkling gemstones. Then the ring Penny had found caught her eye.

"Well hello, what's this?" Annie picked the ring up and held it to the light, loving the way the crystal rose gleamed in her eye.

"I found it chained around the panel when I dug it out." Penny told her. "You can have it. Rings aren't really my thing."

"Thanks."

Annie slipped the ring onto her ring finger on her left hand and went back to inspecting Penny's catch of the day. Neither girl noticed during their shameless gold digging that the ring glowed for a second before it went dark again.

The rose has planted its roots.


	32. Whisper

Chapter 32-Whisper

The ring on Annie's finger felt warm, as if it was emitting its own heat. In fact her whole body felt warm, like she was sitting in a sauna for an hour. That may be because she was sitting in the cockpit of her Talos, Enyo, in the middle of a firefight between the Bots and Cons in the middle of a stuffy cave.

The mission started out simple enough; Annie, along with Darren, Gina and their guardians, were helping the Autobots secure a moderately sized energon deposit in the Rocky Mountains. Some of the Minicons came along to help retrieve the smaller deposits nearby, and the children provided guard duty via their Omega Talos. By rights, the deposit was nothing to jump at, and usually it would be overlooked in favor of larger deposits, except there were no larger deposits.

For the past two weeks, energon scouting was the top priority of the Autobots. They were burning through their stockpiles rapidly, with recent battles getting longer and drawn out, and the window for error was shrinking with each battle. The Autobots, and presumably the Decepticons, were consuming more energon than they could find. The fact that fact they also used it for ammo, power and medicine didn't help their drought either. Things were still stable for the moment, but everyone was well aware of the desperation that was setting in, and the intensity of Megatron's recent raids was evidence of this.

Which led to this simple recon and retrieval mission going south not twenty minutes in. A team of Cons launched a surprise attack on them, led by Megatron himself. Optimus led the charge against his nemesis head on in a catastrophic engagement of heavy metal fists and blaster bolts arcing over the battle field. The cave wasn't large at all, so the battle was even more chaotic. The Omega team stayed close to the Minicons, keeping them safe from any Cons that might try to take a shot at them.

Sparkplug was directing the Minicons throughout the chaos, making sure they obtain as many energon crystals as possible. Darren was shearing off some of the larger crystals to send into the ground bridge. But despite all the hard work and the pace they were moving at, the constant pot shots Starscream was shooting at them made their progress slow.

"Come on people, leg it!" Annie shouted through her Talos' external speakers. She had her machine dump another crystal into one of the crates, one of the last three automated crates they had on site, and sent it through the bridge. Her heart was beating a mile a minute, but she remained focused on the task. "We're almost done."

"How much did we gather already?" Darren asked.

"Um, not a lot." Gina answered. "Just enough to last the Bots about two days max."

"That's all? I thought Teletran said that this was a large deposit!" Darren groaned. He rubbed his face in frustration. "What's the point of even being here then?"

"What the Autobots don't need, they can give to the Minicons," Annie said. "Now stop whining and move it!"

Then the panel on her right beeped and her Talos automatically avoided a null blast that was fired at her from behind. Cursing, Annie turned to see Starscream walking towards her with his powerlinked null ray pointed at her.

"Give us the energon and I'll let you live, human!"

Annie didn't reply, she merely fired two missiles from Enyo's missile launcher. Starscream dodged it, of course, but he wasn't expecting to have the Enyo charge at him like a black armored bull. It slammed into him with great force, knocking him off his feet and sending him into the cave wall. Annie threw a punch, but Starscream caught the mecha's fist and kicked her away. He fired another blast, but it sailed over her shoulder and hit the energon crate, blowing it up and nearly catching Centurion in the explosion.

"No! All that work," Annie glared hatefully at the smirking Starscream and gripped the control sticks hard. "You asshole!"

She fired her wrist cannon, pelting Starscream with armor piercing rounds that dented his metal skin with high velocity bullets. He ran into her fire and tried to behead her unit with his bayonet, but Annie skillfully maneuvered her Talos so that it dodged every quick strike he sent at her. When he overextended his arm as he stabbed forward, Annie grabbed his arm and pointed her wrist cannon into his face.

"Get some!" Annie pressed the trigger and fired a hundred rounds into the Seekers face. Starscream howled in pain as he was both blinded and scarred, trying to get away but was held fast by Enyo, not allowed to flee until she said so. And when she was done riddling his face with bullets, Annie kicked him away. "Who else wants some?"

A few feet away, Megatron batted away a missile Ironhide fired at him and returned the favor with a blast from his fusion cannon. His remained largely isolated from the battle, monitor the field for any advantage he could take. Then he caught sight of a black blur gliding around the cave on a field of emerald sol particle vented from its legs and back. It was one of the Autobots' human pets, piloting one those knock-off Cybertronian mecha that they took such great pride in. Seeing the wounded Starscream she left lying on the ground, Megatron had to admire her ferocity in battle, something that Prime lacked.

But just because this human could fight, didn't mean that she was going to get out of this alive. Someone had to pay for Lugnut's death in blood, and this girl just stepped up to the plate. With an evil smile, Megatron raised his cannon and waited for the right moment to strike. Then, when she landed, he fired the shot.

Annie didn't even hear the sound of the fusion cannon firing. She just turned and saw the purple plasma beam roaring towards her.

And then the world was flame rushing past metal.

The heat was unbearable. Annie could feel it even within the confines of her heavily armored Talos. Her eyes shut and she could see the flashes of red and orange from the explosion. She could feel the heat lick at her cockpit hatch, and tasted the blood in her mouth from hitting her head on her upraised arm, still holding the control stick. But death didn't come for her that minute, as she could still feel her body and the machine around her.

What stood out the most was what she could hear. She heard the roar of flames and the boom of the explosion. She heard the scream of metal tearing apart.

Then she heard a familiar deep voice boom from above. A pained, metallic voice that whispered, "Y-you okay Annie?"

"B-Bulkhead?"

Annie's ears rang and she looked up at the now wounded friend, Bulkhead. The green Autobot's entire left arm and a small part of his torso was gone, completely vaporized by Megatron's attack and all that was left was a sparkling stump in his shoulder. Bulkhead himself was trying to stay online despite the pain and his systems trying to initiate stasis lock.

Annie heard voices shouting in her ears-Darren and Gina. She couldn't hear them, but they were yelling at her in relief and fear. But all Annie could do was lock gazes with the blue eyes of the Autobot that almost died for her through the monitor.

XXXXXX

"Bulkhead is stable," Ratchet said into the otherwise dead-silent command center. "I've placed him into the CR chamber, but it'll be a while before he's healed enough for me to reconstruct his arm."

"Then he'll be off duty for a while." Optimus sighed and rubbed his forehead. "I should never have let Megatron out of my sight. To attack a human so suddenly…"

"It could've been worse," Bumblebee said. "If Bulkhead hadn't turned in mid-air like that, he would've gotten blasted clean through his back."

It was rare to have near misses when Megatron was concerned, as was surviving a direct hit from his fusion cannon. Megatron fired that weapon with acute accuracy, and direct hit from the cannon could blast a normal bot in half. Even Optimus, despite his Matrix-enhanced super-structure, made sure to avoid getting hit by its beam. Bulkhead's quick thinking saved his and Annie's life.

"It's all my fault…"

All eyes in the room, human and Cybertronian, turned to Annie. She was mostly unharmed save for a split lip, and was clad in her loose fitting t-shirt and torn jeans. She was trying to blink back her tears but was failing.

"He didn't even hesitate…he just dove right in and almost got killed…for me!" Annie gritted her teeth as tears started to fall.

"Annie, it wasn't your fault." Darren said, walking over to his twin. He tried to comfort her, but she pushed him away.

"No! This wouldn't have happened if I was stronger!" "Annie shouted. "Even when I have this super powerful Talos and all these weapons, I'm still fucking weak!"

Annie ran out of the room, leaving behind a speechless brother and concerned friends.

XXXXXX

Annie spent the rest of the evening in a foul mood. She didn't talk to anybody, she didn't eat dinner and she only left her room to wash up before heading back to bed. Her near death experience continued to play in her head, and seeing Bulkhead's ravaged body looming over her plagued her thoughts without end. It made her feel worse, and despite Darren and Debbie's attempts to comfort her, she pushed them away and spent the rest of her night in solitude. Even Grindor was given the cold shoulder, which was a first for him, and he was left feeling very cold even though the room was nice and toasty. He didn't like it when Annie was depressed like this.

As she tried to sleep, Annie's mind kept replaying that battle. She never really had a fear of death that most kids would have, and meeting the Autobots didn't change that one bit. In some disturbing sense of logic, being in so many near death situations with the Autobots had sort of desensitized the kids to the danger, and at this point it was just another day at the office or them. Even piloting the Talos into battle against these giant alien killing machines who have made it very clear that they wanted to kill them wasn't as scary as it was when the trio was almost destroyed by Megatron.

Annie was no different, as she knew that it came with being friends with the Autobots and forced herself to toughen up or get dead. The events in Midgard proved that, even when she was in danger of being killed, she would rather face it head on than sit there and cry. Crying wasn't going to make the world a better place. But Megatron's sneak attack on her earlier…that shook her. No, Annie didn't fear death, but it was how she would die that frightened her.

She had dreams of joining the military's Mobile Armor Division as a Talos pilot, the best the best like her dad. She'd rise through the ranks as a natural born badass, someone who people look at and call a legend, maybe even go out in a blaze of glory protecting her comrades and innocent people. But just today she almost got taken out by a cheap shot inside a cave Gaia knows where and risked the life of her friend Bulkhead. She was both grateful for his sacrifice, but also irritated, as she didn't want people risking their lives for her. It made her feel like she couldn't take care of herself, and there was nothing else in the world (aside from spiders) that she hated more than feeling helpless.

It was a feeling that she spent a long time trying to shake off since seeing her mother die. But the fact that all of this happened when she had literally an arsenal at her disposal made it worse. It seemed that even now she couldn't escape that curse.

XXXXX

After having a sleepless night, Annie skipped breakfast with her siblings and took Grindor out for a ride to school, without waiting for Darren and High Wire. The duo rode in silence, with the serenity of the early Tuesday morning marred by the grey clouds hanging overhead. Annie felt like nature was trying to sympathize with her by looking as gloomy as she felt.

"Annie," Grindor said quietly. "Are you feeling alright? You haven't slept a wink last night."

"I'm fine, Grindor. Just feeling a bit under the weather." She replied in a tight voice.

'Yeah, she's totally night fine.' Grindor thought and, against his better judgment, continued to pry. "Are you sure? Because you're looking kinda pale-"

"I said I'm fine!" She snapped. Her outburst caused some people to look at her curiously and she glared back at them. "What are you looking at? Beat it!"

Grindor stayed silent as he brought his charge to the school, not wanting to incite her wrath further. She clearly wasn't in the mood this morning, and he hoped that it didn't get her into trouble at school.

Unfortunately for him and Annie, that fear came true. All morning Annie was wracked with a mind numbing headache that made her sluggish and unresponsive in her classes. She felt like she was going to explode, like every little thing had the potential to make her go off like a firecracker. This only made her mood worsen further and she displayed an aura that made anyone in her path give her a wide berth, lest they awaken the beast that was Annie Radcliffe.

"Annie!" Darren called out to her during pass time. "Annie, wait up!"

"Come on, Annie, don't push us away to." Gina pleaded.

Annie stopped in the middle of the hallway, with the other students giving the pale skinned girl her space as she turned around to face her friends. "What the hell do you two want?"

Gina leaned back, not expecting this hostility from Annie. "We…just wanted to see what was up with you. Darren had told me that you weren't in very high spirits this morning."

"Good to know that our family affairs can stay private." Annie spat, glaring at her brother. "I'm fine, so you don't have to dote on me anymore."

"You look like you just got hit by Soundwave's mental assaults. I'm pretty sure if someone blew a trumpet in your ear, you'd pass out." Darren said.

"Not before I knock the asshole out." Annie muttered. Darren sighed and placed his hands on her shoulders, forcing her to look at him.

"Annie, we're just worried about you. You've been acting strange since yesterday, and it's starting to look bad for you. Ratchet said Bulkhead, will be alright. He just needs time to heal."

Annie snorted and swatted his hands away, turning her back on him. "If that's what you think is wrong, then you don't know me as well as you think you do, bro. Now leave me alone."

She stomped away from them and made her way to the girls' bathroom. She quickly went to the sink and leaned over it, rubbing her head and groaning in discomfort. Annie washed her face with numbingly cold water to clear her head and lessen the pain, and looked up at her reflection in the mirror. Even she couldn't deny that she looked like crap, with bags under her eyes, slightly pale skin and bloodshot eyes. Annie idly thought that she looked she just watched someone die…right down to their last breath.

'What is going on with me? Why am I thinking these thoughts?' Annie thought worriedly. She sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. 'I know Bulkhead's hurt, but Darren did say that he was going to recover. So there should be no reason to think about such morbid things.'

' _But he almost died…'_ Her mind told her. _'He almost got killed covering for your weakness…'_

Annie grumbled and ran her hands through her hair, further messing up her already unkempt strands. Then she realized that the ring on her left hand was a bit warm, and she thought it was throbbing, like a festering wound. She ran her fingers over the crystal rose and felt her headache slowly clearing away. Then the door opened and Annie saw the last person she wanted to see enter the bathroom.

"What do you want, Flay?" Annie spat at the girl she hated with all of her being.

"Just taking a peek at the lioness in her cage where she belongs." Flay Allister replied with a sickeningly sweet smile. Her voice had that same passive aggressive edge as it always did and it pissed Annie off to know end.

Flay Allister was the daughter of an Army general who worked in the Karaba anti-terrorism unit. She went to school with her cousin, a future clothes designer and her aunt who was filthy rich. Flay was a pretty girl with dark red hair and soft blue eyes with a fair complexion, but her beauty was only skin deep. Flay was, in Annie's opinion, a grade-A bitch with a notable disdain for espers. It was something that she figured was born from her father's discreet association with Friends of Humanity, the country's largest anti-esper group. The fact that Annie's brother was an esper in hiding didn't help her attitude with the rich red-head.

"I'd rather be a lion than a pig like you." Annie shot back.

"You take that back, Annabelle!" One of Flay's mean girl friends sneered. Annie just gave the girl the finger.

"Make me bitch."

"Look Annie, I'm on a tight schedule, so could you kindly get out so we can do our business?" Flay asked, though it was more like an order.

"Why should I do that? Just because your daddy's a rich five-star racist doesn't mean you can boss me around." Annie crossed her arms. She was not in the mood for this girl's crap today.

"I have better things to do than play games with you, okay, Annabelle?" The red head smirked at Annie's twitching eyebrow. She knew how much she hated that nickname. "So be a good girl and go seek out that loser brother of yours, and let the straight girls go on with their day."

Annie bristled. "That's it you little-"

"Is something the matter here?" Penny appeared in the doorway, watching the scene with narrowed eyes. Flay scowled at Penny, one of the few high class girls who didn't join the crowd and had a wit to match her mouth. Seeing that the conversation was not going her way with Penny's arrival, Flay decided to call it quits and turned her back on Annie.

"Nothing wrong, Pincer. We were just leaving." Flay said rudely and turned her nose up at her. "Come on girls, it's getting crowded in here."

Annie and her troop pushed past Penny and left the bathroom. With the wicked witch gone, Penny turned to Annie looking perplexed.

"What was that all about?" She asked.

"Nothing," Annie sniffed, looking back into the mirror. "Just Flay being an asshole as always. I had it under control."

"You looked like you were about to snuff her."

"As I said, I had it under control."

Penny hummed in thought and walked up to Annie, placing a hand on her forehead. "You feeling okay there? You feel really warm."

"It's just a light headache. It's getting better now, so no need to worry about me." Annie doused her face in ice cold water again and grabbed her bag before heading to the door. "I'll see you later."

Penny tried to stop her, but the girl was already gone. Annie didn't want to have any more people pity her today. She just needed some peace and quiet for five seconds.

And the ring continued to burn on her finger.

XXXXXX

Afterschool, only Annie and Grindor took the ground bridge to the Ark. Darren was getting a dentist appointment, and Gina was helping her mother out at her dojo. Both girl and Minicon didn't speak to each other for the rest of the day, and it was pretty evident to some of the Autobots and Minicons that Annie didn't get over what happened to Bulkhead the day before. Seeing the usually close and jovial pair looked so detached from each other was a rather depressing sight.

Annie headed to the command center and saw Prowl working at the compute, monitoring Teletran-1 for any alerts for energon. She didn't like talking with Prowl, and he her, but she wanted to know how Bulkhead was doing since Ratchet probably wouldn't let her into the med bay yet. She quietly asked him about his condition and the new Prowl gave was on the blurry line between positive and hope shattering.

"Bulkhead will be fine. He's resting right now and Ratchet's still working on fixing his arm." He told her, then he gave a deep frown. "But it's taking a lot longer than expected."

"What?" Annie gasped.

"Ratchet is a great doctor, Annie, the best we have. But with proper working tools and a CR chamber running on half power, his efficiency in the medical field is halved." Prowl continued.

"Is it because of the energon shortage we're having?" Grindor asked.

Prowl was about to answer that when Teletran-1 gave an alert behind him. He spun around and got to work on the console, with Optimus, Arcee and Ironhide running into the room.

" **Alert! Aleart! Energon signal detected."** Teletran declared.

"Again?" Arcee sighed. It was barely a day after that disaster of a mission the previous afternoon.

"It's raw energon all right," Ironhide said, looking at the screen. "And it's on the move."

"Their recent activities suggest a familiar pattern." Optimus said. "The Decepticons are frequently scouting new deposits with the same urgency as us. Ironhide, Arcee, to the shuttle bay."

"Prime," Prowl stopped him. "If another one of you comes back wounded while our energon levels are at a critical low…"

Optimus nodded. "I understand, Prowl. Autobots, it's time to mobilize!"

Annie watched the Autobots rush out of the room towards the shuttle bay and sighed. It was sad to see these powerful rock'em, sock'em robots look so desperate. She forgot that they needed fuel as much as people needed food to survive, and being on a planet that produces energon in limited quantities was a dangerous scenario to be stuck in. Don't even start with critical injuries or powering a ship as large as the Ark. Solar arrays can only do so much in so little time. Such is the dangers of being stranded on an alien world.

'I wish I could do more than just be some glorified delivery girl.' She thought. 'I hate feeling helpless….'

' _Then why don't you do something about it?'_

XXXXXXX

Optimus, Arcee, Ironhide and Wheeljack were in hot pursuit of Knockout and Barriade through a dark valley on the other side of the world in Asia. It was the middle of the night, and the only source of light came from their headlights, which barely help with the poor visibility. Barricade had a three energon cubes strapped to his hood and he couldn't move very fast because of it.

"Knockout, call for a bridge!" Barricade ordered. "These cubes are weighing Barricade down!"

"In time, Barricade. The farther we make them chase us, the more fuel the Bots use up, and we win the energon race." Knockout said, and tilted his rear view mirror to the sky. "Besides, here comes air support."

The Seekers flew over the valley in triangle formation, their jets roaring loudly as they soared overhead. In perfect synch, they fired their missiles, two each, at the valley walls and caused a landslide that sent a rain of large rocks fallen on the ground teams. Knockout and Barricade made it through, but the Autobots were obviously not going to make it and they were forced to slow down as the rocks blocked their path off. Despite this, Arcee sped up, switching to robot mode and leaping off the boulders as they fell, using them to propel herself forward. Once she was through, Arcee returned to vehicle mode and drove after te two Cons.

On the other side of the blockade, Optimus and the others transformed as they saw the Seekers fly over them in pursuit of Arcee.

"Arcee, fall back!" Optimus ordered. "You're outnumbered."

"No chance in hell!" Arcee said, pushing herself past her speed limit to move faster. "We need that energon!"

"Prowl, target Arcee's coordinates and prepare an emergency ground bridge."

Arcee continued to chase after the Cons, ignoring Prowl's orders to slow down for him to lock on to her for a ground bridge. She was not one to disobey direct orders from her superiors, but right now they couldn't afford to hold back anymore.

"I'm not giving this up, Prowl. Not when I'm so close." She told him and switched her comm-unit off.

"Don't be a fool, Arcee!" Prowl hissed. "That's an order!"

But she still kept the chase going. Behind her, the Seekers locked onto Arcee and fired their hunter seeker missiles. Acre swerved to avoid the dangerous projectiles as they hit the ground and littered the area with powerful explosions that threw her off balance. One missile hit the spot right behind her rear wheels and she was thrown into the air, bouncing across the ground and reverting back to her humanoid form as she slid to a stop.

XXXXXXX

Annie felt her heart stop when she heard Prowl announce to Optimus that Arcee was hit, with three Cons converging on her position. At this point, neither reinforcements nor Optimus's team will get to her in time.

' _You know what to do,'_ Her subconscious self whispered. Annie touched her ring again, the crystal warm and soothing on her skin. ' _You know what's powerful enough to stop them. Call for it, and it shall come to you.'_

Annie nodded to herself and grabbed Grindor's arm. "Come with me."

"What? Whoa!" Grindor almost fell over as Annie pulled him out of the room and down the hall. "Where are we going?"

"To get my Talos, what else? I'm saving Arcee." Annie explained. "But I also need to get something first."

She dragged him to the munitions plant where the Autbots stored their weapons. She sent Grindor over to where her Enyo was stationed and made her way to the back of the room, where her real weapon was being held.

The legendary hammer Mjolnir, once the weapon of the warrior Thor that had been inherited by Annie during her ill-fated mission to Midgard with Bulkhead and Ironhide, sat suspended in an energy field on the wall. The tiny but extravagant hammer, which Wheeljack ran multiple tests on, looked as pristine and divine as the day Annie brought it to the Ark. And, unknown to everyone, the hammer had spent all this time absorbing the ambient static electricity in the environment and from the field itself.

Annie felt a tingle in her hand as she neared Mjolnir and she raised her hand. She smiled as she saw the hammer start to shake in response to her unspoken call and she clenched her hand into a fist. Mjolnir violently broke free of the energy field and flew straight down at Annie, fitting snugly in her hand. The ring started to tingle on her finger as she felt Mjolnir's power run up her arm and into her body, reinvigorating her for the battle that was to come.

Now she was ready to fight.

XXXXXX

Arcee coughed up dust as she sat up. That last missile strike let a bad burn on her upper legs where they were situated in her vehicle mode and it hurt to move. She looked up and saw the Seekers close in on her, transforming and landing on the ground, surrounding her. Starscream smirked as he and his men raised their cannons at her.

"And so the great Arcee meets her end at my hands." Starscream boasted, earning an eye roll from Thundercracker. "When you meet your fellow Autobots in te afterlife, tell them Starscream went you."

Just as he was about to open fire, a ground bridge opened up in the air behind them and a golden flash shot from it. The golden object hit Starscream in the back of the head with enough force to knock him forward into the ground. Arcee got a good look at what hit him and saw that it was the hammer Mjolnir, and then looked up at the portal to see the Enyo floating in place amidst a cloud of sol particles. Thundercracker and Skywarp were just as surprised as she was.

"A human?" Skywarp said.

"No," Annie smirked. "Your worst nightmare."

She pressed hard on the control sticks and sent her Talos flying forward at great speeds, calling upon Mjolnir to rise up and hit Skywarp in the knee. The purple Seeker fell to one knee, and Annie landed just as Starscream was recovering from her surprise attack.

"Kill her, kill her!" Starscream shouted. He and Thundercracker opened fire, but the shield on Annie's beam gattling cannon blocked most of their rounds.

She glided across the ground, leaving a trail of green sol particles trailing behind her as she played chicken with the two Cons. Once she caught sight of her target, she flew forward and slammed her mecha's shoulder into Thundercracker's chest, shattering the glass hatch over his cockpit and sent him into the valley wall. Starscream came at her from behind with his bayonet, but she spun around and grabbed his arm. Holding him still, she fired hundreds of rounds into his chest and kicked him away.

"Didn't you learn from last time not to try that?" Annie taunted. Thundercracker tried to shoot at her from behind, but Annie turned Enyo around and fired two missiles that tore into the blue Seeker's arm and face, knocking him back once more. "Apparently you didn't."

Arcee watched in awe at Annie's complete domination of the Seekers. She had never seen the girl fight using her Talos like this before, and the hammer only made things worse for the Cons as it flew around, hitting them in the legs or face with the force of a solid punch from Optimus. The fiery bombardment she had given Thundercracker had laid the Seeker out flat, and she turned to Starscream.

"How hard is it to kill a human child?" Starscream snarled, his head pounding from the blow Mjolnir dealt him.

"You'd be surprised." Annie replied, grinning viciously.

Starscream scowled and raised his bayonet. "Do you know who I am, little girl? I've killed thousands of Autobots greater than you."

"And I've snuffed out two angels worth a thousand Autobots." She shot back. "Trust me, you're nothing special."

Starscream hissed and charged forward, using his jet boosters to sprint forward. Annie had her unit sidestep him, but she wasn't expecting him to grab her Enyo's head and throw the machine over his shoulder into the ground. She cursed as she was jostled by the movement, and quickly fired two missiles at Starscream's face that caused him to stumble back in pain. As he was blinded, he didn't see Annie charging at him until she socked him hard in the face. Another punch sent him spinning to the ground, out cold. The Enyo stood triumphantly over him, like the goddess of war it was named after.

"What was that about your score card?" Annie smirked.

There was a slash of light behind her and Skywarp appeared with his cannons raised. Instinctively, Annie spun around and fired a missile at him, which he dodged easily.

"Ha! Did you really think a frontal assault was going to work on me?" Skywarp laughed. "You've got a lot to learn about warfare, kid."

"You're one to talk, mister backstabber. Maybe you need to take a nap!"

Mjolnir came down on Skywarp from above, slamming into the top of his head and sending thousands of volts of electricity surging throughout his body, sending his systems into overload. His screams of pain became a garbled, static mess as he went into stasis lock and crumpled to the ground.

"Whoa," Arcee breathed.

Optimus and the others finally made it over the pile of rocks and ran over to their friends. They were ready to help Arcee fight the Seekers off, but instead they were greeted with the odd sight of the Enyo standing over the unconscious and badly beaten bodies of the Seekers. Ironhide, after a moment of stunned silence, was the first to voice everyone's thoughts.

"What the hell happened?"

XXXXXXX

Prowl and Grindor stood by the ground bridge in the shuttle bay as the Autobots returned with Annie. The tactician had just gotten done reprimanding Grindor for not just letting Annie go out into the field alone, but also for using the ground bridge without authorization. He was already planning on how he was going to scold Annie as well, but he was more curious about how the battle went.

"What happened?" Prowl asked.

"We only saw the gory aftermath, but apparently little Annie here beat the living slag out of Starscream and his goons." Ironhide said.

"She was amazing, the way she moved in her Talos and took them all down so quickly, it was just unreal." Arcee praised, smiling at Annie. "How were you able to take them down like that? Even with the Enyo's firepower, it shouldn't have been that easy."

Annie climbed out of her cockpit and smiled up at the Autobots. "It was all thanks to this." She held up Mjolnir, its flawless gold shining in the Ark's lights. "Lit them up like the fourth of July."

"But I thought the hammer was put in storage in the munitions plant," Wheeljack said. "How did you get it?"

"That's what I would like to know as well." Prowl crossed his arms, giving her his usual frown.

"All I did was call to it, and it came. I'm its master now, and it answers only to me." She said proudly. "A stasis field isn't gonna stop a hammer that absorbs electricity."

"I knew we should've put it in a vault." Ironhide grumbled.

"This hammer's mine! I took what rightfully belonged to me." Annie scowled. "It's not like you guys were using it."

"Annie, your rash actions could have gotten you killed," Optimus scolded her. He didn't want Annie taking any part in the fighting than she had to. There was already a vendetta on Darren's head for killing Lugnut, the last thing they needed was Annie making enemies of Megatron or Nightshade. "To fight three Seeker alone without even Centurion's support…"

"Optimus, I know Annie shouldn't have been out there, but don't blame her. She was amazing out there, and she saved my life today." Arcee defended the girl she had come close to seeing as a little sister. "I think that constitutes as a pardon. Just this once."

Optimus didn't look pleased at condoning Annie's rash actions, but she did save one of his Autobot's lives and he told her that he was grateful for doing so. Annie smiled and swung Mjolnir onto her shoulder.

"Just doing my part for Team Prime." She chirped. "It's what Bulkhead would've done."

Ratchet entered the room and smiled down at Annie. "Speaking of Bulkhead…"

XXXXXXX

Annie had barely powered down her Talos as she placed it with the other Talos in the munitions plant, nearly falling over in her haste. Leaving everyone else behind, she ran to the med bay and came upon a welcome sight.

"Bulkhead!" She exclaimed.

"Hey, Annie." Bulkhead waved at her with his one hand.

The former Wrecker was lying down on a berth, with Longarm working on his stump with arc welders and sealant. Annie ran for him, but Ratchet scooped her up and carried her over to him with Optimus. The doctor deposited her next to Bulkhead and she hugged his side.

"I'm so glad you're alright!" Annie smiled. "I was so worried that you wouldn't believe!"

"Doc gave me a rundown of that. But I'm alright now, just not in one piece." Bulkhead grinned. "It'll take more than a missing arm to keep me down!"

"Stop moving Bulk before I carve out your T-cog by accident." Longarm warned him.

Annie told Bulkhead all about what happened earlier, performing animated movements as she told him about her overwhelming victory over the Seekers.

"You should've seen me Bulk!" Annie swung her hammer around like it was a sword. "I saved Arcee and took out those three stooges with nothing but my trusty hammer. This thing is freakin' wicked!"

"I know. I saw it in action." Bulkhead said. "But how did you-"

"She stole it from the containment cell." Ratchet said. "How, I don't know. Nothing on this world can surprise me anymore."

"It's a weapon forged for a god by a god." Annie twirled Mjolnir around her finger. "Don't diss my divine swagger."

"Annie, that hammer is not a toy." Optimus reminded her. "That is a powerful weapon that we know little about. It's too strong for you to handle recklessly."

Annie tightened her grip on the hammer possessively, not wanting to give it up. The crystal ring began to heat up again. "Don't even think about taking it from me again! This hammer is mine. I'm the only one who can hold it!"

Ratchet sighed. "Annie…"

"Come on, just let her keep the hammer." Bulkhead said. When the others looked at her with differing levels of surprise and disapproval (mostly from Ratchet) he explained himself. "Look, she's a smart girl. I'm sure she knows better than to swing it around and cause thunderstorms everywhere. She's not that reckless, right Annie?"

"Yes," Annie nodded and held her right hand up. "I promise to never abuse the power of this hammer to control the forces of nature or smash someone's skull in without good reason."

"That's totally reassuring." Longarm muttered. Annie kicked him in the back and nearly sent him over the edge. "Hey!"

"Be nice." Ratchet scolded them.

Optimus looked down at Annie and then gave Bulkhead a strong glance. His eyes told the green mech that this was his responsibility if something bad happened, and Bulkhead nodded. Seeing that Bulkhead was serious about this, Optimus sighed and turned back to the girl.

"Annie, you may keep the hammer," He told her, earning a cheer from her. "On the condition that you do not take it outside the Ark except for missions."

"I totally understand Optimus, thank you!" She squealed and hugged Mjolnir tightly.

' _You see now? Show them just a little bit of power and they will respect you more. Show them that you are just as strong as they are and they will let you fight among titans. People listen to those who are strong, Annie, and they'll follow a strong warrior like wolves to an alpha. And you are the alpha.'_

'Yeah, I am strong now. I'm not longer that helpless little girl that has to watch her friends get hurt because she was weak.' Annie smiled, tightening her grip on Mjolnir's handle. 'I don't think even Megatron can take me on now.'

Annie was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't realize that the voice in her head was not her own.

XXXXXX

Darren had begun noticing a change in Annie over the next few days. Seeing Bulkhead in a better condition had certainly lightened her spirits, and it also made her a bit more active. Being able to wield Mjolnir as her new signature weapon had empowered her, made her feel like someone who could take on the world, and that should've set Darren's mind at ease, but instead it only worried him more.

Being her twin, Darren was the first to spot the subtle changes in her. No longer was she the excitable and loud headstrong girl she was before. Now she was something else, like a venomous snake who was unassuming at first, but ultimately dangerous. She was a bit more quiet now, but still had that aggressiveness under the surface, just waiting to explode should someone try to challenge her. In a way, she was scary. And Darren didn't like being scared of his sister.

In her spare time, she would practice with Mjolnir, testing out its powers, seeing what she could do with them. Indeed, she had become more skilled in using Mjolnir, not just in explosive bursts of electricity, but in less destructive ways like generating small shocks and discharging steady energy fields. Darren had asked her once how she was able to do all of this and all she said was that the hammer does what she thinks it should do. Her strikes were more precise, and watching her train was akin to watching a storm rumble overhead, silent, but always there, waiting to explode.

When she wasn't doing that, she was taking lessons at the dojo of Julia Harkins, Gina's mother. Annie was a dedicated student who learned her current techniques from Julia before meeting the Autobots, but now she pushed herself with an intensity that made even a hardened veteran like Julia pause. The master was always happy to see her students do well in everything, but seeing her most animated student act like she was training to kill someone was a bit unsettling. She wasn't the only one.

It was on one particular day at the dojo, when Darren, Gina and Sara sat on the sidelines watching Annie train with Julia, that they began throwing around theories about what could be the reason for her sudden change in behavior.

"Are you sure that nothing major had happened at your place?" Gina asked.

"Not that I know of," He replied and groaned. "I mean, aside from almost getting killed by Megatron, there hasn't been anything to make her act this way. I'm getting a bit scared, Gina, she isn't usually like this."

Gina patted Darren's back to comfort him. "It's probably just the shock of it all. Near death experiences are life changing, especially when they happen so suddenly like that. Maybe it's just a phase."

"Well, if it's a phase, then I hope she grows out of it soon." Darren said, watching his sister do some katas under Julia's supervision. "Because I don't like this new Annie."

Sara just sat in silence, watching Annie do her exercises with Julia Harkins near her, taking the time study her charge's mother closely. Julia was a beautiful woman in her forties who looked as strong as she was. She didn't share many features with her daughter, sporting long red hair and a strong physique gained from years of harsh training despite giving birth to a child. If one looked closely, you could see faint, pinkish scars along her arms and collarbone; leftovers from her time in the Helic Republic special forces as a combat instructor.

'As the humans put it, she is strong in mind and body, just like her daughter.' Sara thought. She wondered what Gina's father, Theodore Harkins, was like. Gina spoke fondly of him, but to the android's knowledge, Theo was one an excavation somewhere in Egyptia, and hasn't been heard from since. Oddly enough, Sara found herself hoping nothing bad had happened to the professor, knowing how it would affect Gina. 'Is this what empathy feels like?'

"Sara?" Gina gently shook the android's shoulder to get her attention. "Are you alright? I've been trying to get your attention for two minutes."

"I am fine, just…thinking." Sara answered. "What is the problem?"

"We were talking about Annie's strange behavior. Did you notice anything that might've caused this change?" Darren asked.

Sara racked her cyber-brain for anything that she thought was unusual, but could come up with nothing unusual. As for when this whole affair began…

"I have not notice anything out of the ordinary," She told them. "But my past observations have shown that Annie did not start acting like this until she acquired that ring from Penelope Pincer."

"Ring? What ring?" Gina asked.

"She means that ring that Annie got from Penny's gold digging." Darren answered. "The treasure that she swiped from the golden asp. It was a crystal rose that was wrapped around the stasis panel when Penny found it."

Gina furrowed her eyebrows and looked at Sara intensely. "Sara, are you sure that Annie's behavior started with that ring?"

"Yes, I am 98.5% positive of that." Sara confirmed. Gina gave Darren a worried glance.

"Is it possible?"

"I don't know, but I'm not going to just overlook something like that because of logic." He said, looking over at Annie. She was doing windmill kicks now, and he couldn't help but wince at how strong each kick looked. "It's something worth investigating."

"Don't tell me you're going to try to take her ring. That's going to cause a lot of problems for both of you." Gina frowned, knowing how volatile Annie was these days.

"No, I'll wait until she gets back from her mission with the Autobots. This is a family affair that needs to be done behind closed doors."

Gina and even Sara didn't like the sound of that. Sibling squabbles were bad enough, but spats between twins were even more destructive, especially when one was an esper and the other had a divine weapon. The blonde just hoped that they didn't come to blows over this. Things were tense enough as it is.

XXXXXX

Annie felt her stomach lurch a bit when she made her Talos jump over a boulder as it ran down a rocky hill. She could hear the Autobots following after her, but she paid them no mind. So long as they stayed out of her way, she would keep her mouth shut and follow Prime's lead. Mjolnir was sitting in her Enyo's grip, settled in a holster compartment on its left arm that allows it to slide in and out with ease. Once she was close enough to her destination, she stopped hard and hid behind a boulder. The Autobots did the same not too far from her.

The team was investigating another energon signal in one of Coronado's many deep canyons. At this location, they saw two driller machines digging into the side of the canyon wall, with both drillers being operated by the Minicons Cannon and Scalpel, Knockout's assistant. Blackout, Barricade, Knockout and Thundercracker were also there acting as sentries. Wheeljack pointed his scanner in their direction.

"The Cons may have found a vein, but its giving off a weak pulse." Wheeljack sighed. "Whatever they found, it's barely enough to hold us for a day."

"At least the Cons are as desperate to find this stuff as we are." Arcee commented.

"Do you guys always talk this much on missions?" Annie hissed. Using her connection to Mjolnir, she charged up electricity in the hammer. "I'm going in."

Before anyone could get her to stop, Annie fired a lightning bolt down at one of the unmanned drillers, blowing it up. Taking off guard by the exploding machine, the Cons were left wide open for a missile strike from the black Talos, further scattering them.

"We've got Autobots!" Barricade yelled, firing his blaster at the Autobots. Blackout transformed to his helicopter mode and took to the air, firing down at the Bots from above.

Annie had her unit leap into the air, coming down on Blackout and smashing his tail rotor with its hands. The Cons went into freefall, crashing into the ground and nearly hitting Knockout in the process. Optimus led the charge downhill, jumping to the ground and punching Blackout in the face just as he went into robot mode. Arcee, Prowl and Wheeljack also descended upon the other Cons, igniting another firefight.

"Annie, what part of hang back did you not get?" Arcee said as she kicked Thundercracker in the face.

"Please, Cee, we're not fighting warriors here," Annie said, spinning her machine around and slamming its fist into Knockout's face. "We're fighting cannon fodder."

Cannon and Scalpel took cover behind the driller they were operating as the fighting became more intense. When a laser bolt hit the ground next to them, Scalpel had enough of having some "fresh air" as Knockout put it.

"Ve must leave now!" Scalpel said in his sharp voice.

"We're in the middle of a battle you coward!" Cannon growled. "Decepticons don't run."

Scalpel angrily stabbed his two front legs into Cannon's shoulder and glared into his visor. "You vill do as I say or I vill tear out your T-cog and make you eat it!" He snarled. "Now move!"

Cannon gritted his teeth and started to climb the canyon wall, with Scalpel hopping onto his back like a demented living backpack. As the Mini-Cons climbed up to the top, Annie caught sight of them from her vantage point where she was holding Knockout off.

'More lambs for the slaughter.' She grinned.

Cannon and Scalpel had already reached the top of the canyon and were already running away from the battle, not caring about their larger comrades currently being routed down below. The Enyo slowly rose up over the cliff and spotted their tiny forms in the distance. As calm as if she were flipping a channel on the tv, Annie fired Mjolnir from Enyo's arm and watched it with mirth as it sailed up into the air, before falling back down like a meteor. It impacted the spot between Scalpel and Cannon, hitting the ground with enough force to blast both mechs off their feet. She had the Enyo glide over to them and once she was right on top of them, she opened the cockpit hatch and hopped to the ground.

"And where do you two thin you're going?" Annie asked, casually strolling over to them. She recalled Mjolnir back to her hand and planted her foot on Cannon's chest, pinning him on his back. "I don't recall saying you could run from me."

"Get slagged you filthy ape!" Cannon spat.

"Filthy ape? That's a new one," She remarked. "Usually it's insect or squishy, or just the unoriginal vermin. But no one's ever called me an ape before. At least," Her voice took on a hard edge. "Not to my face."

"Here's another one. Eat this Autobitch!" Cannon looked in Scalpel's direction. "Now!"

Scalpel lunged at Annie from behind with his needle like legs pointed in her direction, poised to skewer her like a fish on a spear. But he wasn't expecting for her to quickly dodge him at such a close distance, nor was he expecting her to grab his head. With strength he knew she didn't have before, Annie slammed him into the ground and spun around, smacking Cannon in the face with Mjolnir when he tried to come at her. Energon bled from his mouth as he fell on his back again.

"Now you bozos are going to tell me what I want to know," Annie hissed as she pointed Mjolnir at them. "Where is Megatron?"

"G-get fragged." Cannon wheezed through broken teeth, spitting energon at her. All the mirth vanished from Annie's face instantly and she leaned back.

"All right," She muttered and raised Mjolnir above her head. "Let's do this the fun way."

XXXXXX

Back in the canyon, the battle was already over. The Autobots' surprise attack had taken the Decepticons by surprise and they were forced to abandon their operation. As satisfying as seeing the Cons run home with their tail between their legs was, it didn't feel as gratifying as it usually did.

"That was short and sweet." Prowl sighed and turned to Wheeljack. "So what's the verdict, Wheeljack? Did we hit pay dirt?"

"No, we're broke." Wheeljack shook his head. He did some scans on the vein the Cons found and groaned. "There's barely enough here for the Minicons."

Arcee huffed and kicked one of the drillers. "At least we have one of the drillers to take back home."

"YEEEAAARRGGGHHHHH!"

A horrifying scream echoed throughout the canyon, putting the Autobots on alert again. Then Optimus noticed that their human powerhouse was not with them.

"Annie!" Optimus and his Autobots wasted no time in climbing the canyon wall to where Annie's position was located. But when they made it to the top, they came upon an unwelcome and sickening sight.

Scalpel, the Decepticons' Minicon medic, lay in pieces on the ground, torn limb from limb with his parts scattered across the area with dull blue trails of energon leaking from the body parts. His head sat by Annie's feet, its large round eyes dark and lifeless. His last expression was one of open defiance, his last act before Annie tore him apart.

As for Cannon, he was still alive, but he was only marginally in better shape than Scalpel. His arms were ripped clean from his torso, and his legs were mangled. His chest was caved in and twitching violently. Annie stood over him, delivering strong electrical jolts into his body with Mjolnir. Miraculously, he was still alive and conscious, but just barely.

"T-that's all I know," He cried, his voice sounding like he was suffocating. "P-please, stop…"

"Now was that so hard?" Annie smiled, her eyes aglow with a madness few could match. "As compensation for your help, you get to escape your pain. Tell your friend I said hi when you get to hell."

She raised her hammer in the air, about to bring it down on his head, when Prowl's voice stopped her.

"Annie!" He yelled, running over to her with the other Bots. "What the hell are you doing?"

She growled and glared up at him. "Getting results, what do you think I'm doing?"

"Annie, if you want to fight alongside us, then you must adhere to our rules," Optimus said, his gaze hard as he lectured her. "Torture and murder are now how we operate in the field. Autobots do not inflict harm unless all other options are exhausted. It is what separates us from the Decepticons."

"Oh please, is this really the time for another noble speech Optimus?" Annie sneered, her expression taking on a vicious visage. "You didn't happen to learn the location of Megatron's current location, did you? Well I did! And you happen to know where there's a stockpile of raw energon ripe for the taking? I do!"

"Come on, Annie. Calm down." Arcee tried to approach the girl, but she was rebuffed hard.

"Calm? Calm is the last thing we need! Calm is what's prolonging this go forsaken war of yours!" She snarled, glaring up at all of them. "The Cons have you all running in circles, chasing after their crumbs. But what we really need to do is hit them hard and fast! Right where it hurts!"

"A direct assault on the Decepticons is too risky to perform at this moment, Annie, and will provoke fierce retaliation." Optimus told her. "And I will not endanger innocent human lives."

"But you have no problem endangering mine, or Darren and Gina's. Or your fellow Autobots. Just ask Bulkhead, oh wait! He's recovering from fighting YOUR arch nemesis!"

"That is enough Annie!" Prowl shouted, moving to stand above her to cow her into submission. "You are out of line."

"You're one to talk. I can imagine that you have enough skeletons in your closet to fill a graveyard! Heaven knows how much shit you've done that Prime's turns the other cheek to." She said and gave Optimus a glare so full of scorn that he thought he was staring into Nightshade's eyes. "You know, Prime. For a big, strong bot, you're soft. I bet you've had plenty of chances to kill Megatron and you took none of them. How many of your soldiers died because you couldn't work up the nerve to be a warrior!"

Everyone was silent at the harsh lashing Annie gave Optimus. No one spoke to him like that, even when they were angry with him. Even Prowl, who was usually critical of Prime's decisions, was speechless at how this conversation went and looked at Optimus to see how he would react. The Prime didn't look visible upset, but when he spoke, his voice held a hard edge to it that made even Prowl shiver a bit.

"Annie, you are returning to the Ark, where you will remain for the time being." Optimus said. It wasn't a request, it was an order. "You are not working with a clear mind for sound judgment."

Annie stared hard at him, then at the other Autobots. She saw their judging stares, along with the pity and apprehension than only made her angrier. She felt the ring get hotter, like it was held over a fire for a few minutes. Annie took a deep, shaky breath.

"Fine." She said. Annie walked back to her Talos and climbed back into the cockpit. She closed the hatch and had it stand up, making sure to stomp over Scalpel's remains.

"Teletran, we need a ground bridge." Prowl requested.

The ground bridge appeared in front of them. The Autobots watched the Enyo stand still for a moment before it walked to the bridge and disappeared into the tunnel. Wheeljack sighed in relief, glad the drama was over, and walked towards the portal to return to the Ark. But he was suddenly sent flying back by the Enyo, which barreled into him. He crashed into Optimus and the Enyo flew into the air, generating huge amounts of sol particles as it flew away into the canyon before the Autobots could react.

"No, Annie!" Arcee exclaimed.

XXXXXX

Darren and Gina were taken by surprise at how fast Optimus and the others had entered the command center. Ratchet was caught off guard to, and he didn't like the tense looks on his friends' faces.

"What happened?" He asked. "Did something happen?"

"Annie just killed a Minicon and bailed on us to go after Megatron." Arcee said.

Darren felt his heart stop. "She did what?"

"Ratchet, can you have Teletran track Annie's position at our previous coordinates?" Optimus asked. The doctor was already hard at work before Optimus even finished his request.

"I can't locate her signal!" Ratchet growled.

"The Apollo drives that power the Omega Talos generate sol particles that are immune to most forms of radar waves. She is invisible even to your advanced detection systems." Sara informed them.

"Do you have a way to track her Sara?" Darren asked. "Please, Annie could be in trouble."

Sara paused for a moment at the fear in Darren's eyes. It took her a moment to answer. "Y-yes, I can. I can alter the computer to track the emission of sol particles but it will take some time." Sara hopped onto the console and extended a cord from the back of her neck. She plugged the cord into a connection port and got to work.

"When Sara pinpoints Annie's location we must be ready to mobilize at once. Ratchet, have any other Autobot not on a mission to head to the shuttle bay and be on standby." Optimus said to his team. Then he turned to Darren and Gina. "That includes you as well. You're the fastest of us aside from Jetfire and can reach her faster."

"You can count on us, Optimus." Gina assured, placing a hand on Darren's shoulder. "Come on Darren, we need to get our Talos."

Darren nodded and followed her out the room. 'Please don't let anything happen to her.'

XXXXXX

At the moment, mine C-32 was probably one of the largest energon mines that the Decepticons had found. Starscream had stumbled upon this location in the middle of a mountain range in Coronado about a week ago with Blackout. The amount of energon there was enough to keep them satiated for months in advance, and they still had yet to completely empty the place, but it didn't help their energon shortage problem. Megatron liked to plan long term, and in the long term for him, this deposit was useless if they can't locate another deposit to suit their needs.

Most of the Decepticons were hard at work harvesting the energon crystals in the caves, with automated drillers picking up the rest of the slack. Nightshade and Starscream were in Europa scouting for any more mines, and the Minicons were holding the fort back at the Nemesis with Soundwave. Everyone was hard at work today, and Megatron was not going to have it any other way.

"Come on Barricade," Skywarp pleaded. "Just do me a solid."

"No," Barricade growled, at his wits end with Skywarp's constant whining. "Barricade has better things to do than play games."

"It's not a game, it's a test. This is a matter of honor, Barricade!" Skywarp insisted. "I'm not going to let Knockout's comment slide like that, and I want to prove to him that I am faster than you without my powers!"

"It's your fault for being dumb enough to be goaded by Knockout." Barricade said, but then he noticed someone walking towards them. "Hm?"

He and Skywarp saw a large shadow in the entrance to the cave, and all they saw were glowing red eyes, before a flash of light blinded them.

On a lower level of the min, Megatron was grilling Knockout for his lack of progress with their energon crisis. Optimus was right in his assumption that the Cons were also getting desperate for energon, and Megatron had tasked Knockout with the location of new energon deposits, preferably deposits that weren't smaller than an energon cube. The last thing Megatron wanted was to be in a worse position than the Autobots. His pride would not allow it.

"You call yourself a scientist?" Megatron growled, glaring down at Knockout. "You were supposed to have located a fresh energon deposit now!"

"M-my apologies, lord Megatron," Knockout stammered, backing up a bit. "We've ran into a few complications involving the Autobots' new heavy hitter."

"Oh? And who might that be?" Megatron asked.

His answer came in the form of Barricade, who crashed to the ground at his feet. The warrior was covered in smoking burns and was in stasis lock due to a system overload. Megatron and Knockout looked up to see the dark form of the Enyo in the tunnel, dragging Skywarp's motionless body with it. Mojolnir crackled in its sheath.

"This is what you're afraid of?" Megatron let out a scathing laugh. "It's merely Optimus Prime's pet human."

"No, Megatron," Annie hissed, dropping Skywarp at her Talos' feet. "I'm your executioner!"

The Enyo shot forward at Megatron in a flash, and slammed its fist into his face. Enhanced by Mjonir's electricity, the punch actually threw Megatron back into the wall. He glared up at her and rubbed his jaw, glancing down to see that his lip was bleeding some energon. He still felt the sting from Mjolnir's lightning running through his head, but it was nothing too serious.

"Well then…" Megatron grumbled as he stood up. Annie thought he was going to fire his ion cannon, but to her surprise, he popped it off his arm and let it fall to the ground. When he took on a fighting stance, she knew that he was getting serious. "We'll do this the old fashioned way."

Megatron lunged forward and attacked with an upward strike. Annie barely dodged the uppercut and moved her Talos' leg to kick him in the chest. Megatron grunted but he held his ground and tried to grab at he, but the Enyo glided back to avoid his large hands. Mjolnir crackled as she tried to hit him again with it, but the Decepticon leader avoided most of her blows, batting away the Talos' fists like he was play fighting with a toddler. Annie got annoyed with his constant dodging, her arms were starting to get tired and she was starting to lose steam.

"Stop running and fight like a man!" She shouted at him.

Megatron smirked. It never occurred to her that he wasn't running, but instead he was just getting her to use up her energy in trying to hit him so that she'd be easy prey for him later. To think that her species were the most intelligent beings on this planet. "I am no man, human. I am Megatron!"

Megatron leapt up and did a spin kick that hit the Enyo in its side. Annie was violently jostled in her seat and her unit crashed into the tunnel wall. She looked at her monitor and saw Megatron charging at her, and she instinctively pulled the trigger on her control stick, firing a missile from her shoulder launcher. Not expecting her to use her weapons, Megatron was hit in the face and had his vision covered in flames and smoke. Annie pushed her mecha to ram into Megarton's body and send them both to the ground with her on top of him.

"Die!" Annie pulled her arm back, and punched down towards Megatron's face as hard as she could. But Megatron caught the Enyo's fist and punched its chest, rattling the cockpit once more and knocking the Enyo off him. "Shit!"

Annie forced her unit to pull itself upright, but she was startled to see Megatron's fist rushing towards her. She quickly pulled her Talos in reverse, barely avoiding the uppercut that nearly took her Enyo's head off, but the maneuver caused her to lose balance and her machine fell on its side. Now she was starting to panic, jerking her control sticks to bring herself into a standing position…and saw Megatron's red eyes staring right at her through the monitor.

"Ahh!" She screamed and her Talos fell back as Megatron let out a deafening roar and threw a punch at her. She pressed down hard on the foot pedals and the Enyo was able to dodge the punch and jump back to its feet. The punch was so strong that Annie swore she saw the air shift from the sheer force he put into it. He was out for blood.

The next few seconds were full of Annie being on the defensive with her Talos, having her Enyo dodge and duck under Megatron's lightning fast punches. She didn't even have enough time to activate Mjolnir, since even a second's hesitation would mean an instant death. When Megatron cocked his fist back for another swing, Annie threw her left arm forward, slamming the Enyo's fist into his jaw and dislodging some of his teeth in a shower of energon. She thought she had him beat, but to her horror, Megatron retaliated fiercely, his teeth screeching against the metal of the robot's arm as he delivered a strong blow of his own. Annie was just fast enough to have her right arm protect the cockpit as Megatron's fist hit Enyo like a wrecking ball.

His blow sent the Enyo flying back nearly twenty feet before it crashed against the wall again. Megatron spat out a glob of energon and charged at her. The seriously rattled Annie managed to get her Talos to move out of the way just as Megatron sent a knee towards her robot's head, hitting the stone instead. She got a good distance away from him and spun around to fight him once more. Her hands were shaking violently, her breaths were short and labored, sweat was just pouring down her face. Annie knew that she was in for a difficult fight, but this was…impossible!

Megatron slowly turned to face her, energon bleeding from his mouth. Her punch had knocked out some of his teeth, but he paid it no mind as his red eyes glared heatedly at her. Annie swallowed her fear and willed Mjolnir to start charging up another lightning bolt. One that she was sure was going to drop the Decepticon warlord for good. But then she saw Megatron smirk.

"What's so funny?"

"Stupid girl," Megatron rasped. "You should know better than to fight an enemy alone."

Her moment's hesitation was her downfall. Her video monitors all turned to static as Soundwave's spin kick took the Enyo's head right off its shoulders. An axe-kick to the sparkling stump where its head used to be sent the headless Talos crashing to the ground. Annie was knocked out of her seat and hit her head on the monitor, cutting her forehead open.

Megatron and Soundwave stood over the motionless robot. Soundwave inquired Megatron about his wounds, but he waved him off, more interested in the hammer the Talos used to attack him. He knew it was not Cybertronian technology, and certainly not human in origin either. Looking at the golden hammer, he knew that further study was required in order to learn more about this weapon.

"Soundwave, we're returning to the Nemesis to get this fixed," Megatron rubbed his bleeding jaw and looked at Knockout. "Knockout, you have your test subject. See what makes this machine, and this human, tick."

Knockout grinned. "With pleasure, my lord."

XXXXXXX

"I have found her!" Sara announced and remotely activated the ground bridge. "I am sending her to your coordinates now."

"Thank you Sara. Autobots," Optimus turned to his assorted team of Autobots and humans. "Transform and roll out!"

The Autobots transformed and drove into the ground bridge, with Darren and Gina following after them. For a moment, they were blinded by the green glow of the portal, then they found themselves inside a large cavern full of energon. Darren saw the Bots fighting the Cons that were in the mines, laser blasts flying everywhere, hitting the walls and the ground, causing come energon crystals to explode. But he didn't care about any of that. He was only here for Annie.

"Darren, I have a fix on Annie's location!" Gina said over the radio.

"Then let's go!" He exclaimed.

Annie jerked her controls, trying to move her Talos, but it wasn't responding. "Come on, move damn you!"

Blood ran into her eye, making it sting and angering her further. The damage that Soundwave had done to her robot was extensive, without its head, she had no way to see outside, and she was basically defenseless. It would take some time for the secondary cameras to switch on, but she didn't have time to wait. This was certainly a fine mess she got herself in.

"That was a ballsy move you pulled, little girl." Knockout knelt down over the fallen Talos. "But word to the wise, unless your name is Optimus Prime, don't take Megatron on alone. Stronger bots have tried to do the same thing and got slagged."

"But they weren't me!" Annie pulled the lever next to her seat and the cockpit hatch popped open. Annie jumped out into a roll on the ground and called Mjolnir to her. The hammer returned to her grip and she fired a bolt at Knockout, hitting the mech in the middle of his chest. The bolt had him stumbling back, but other than a scorched chestplate, he was still functional.

"Ow! That hurt you little glitch!" He growled, then saw the spot on his armor and gasped in horror. "My armor! I just had that polished! You're gonna pay for that!"

Before Knockout could enact his revenge, the Prometheus flew into the chamber and landed in front of Annie. Darren waved his arms and the boulders around Knockout slammed into him, hitting him from all directions. Knockout tried to fight back, but having rocks the size of your upper body hit you was not making things easy for him. Add in additional damage to his once flawless armor, and the Con decided that some things were best left unfinished. He gave up on trying to kill the humans and transformed, racing down the tunnel out of sight.

With the immediate threat gone, Darren had his Talos kneel to the ground and opened the hatch, climbing down to his sister. He was going to check on her injury, but she smacked his hands away and stepped back.

"Don't touch me!" She shouted.

"Annie, are you okay?" Centurion asked as he jumped off the Athena's shoulder with Gina in tow.

"Do I look okay? I got my ass handed to me by not just Megatron, but also Soundwave and now my fucking Talos is trashed!" Annie kicked her machine's leg. "I could've had that bastard is Soundwave didn't blindside me."

"You shouldn't have been here in the first place. You could've been killed, Annie!" Gina said. When Annie started to walk away, Gina got in front of her. "Don't walk away like that. You are not running away from this. From us."

"I never run. Not from you, or anything this world can throw at me." Annie said. "You guys came here to save me and you did. Now leave me alone and let me wallow in my own self pity."

The fight had left her voice at that moment and Darren could see the exhaustion setting in. she pushed past Gina and walked back to her Talos, not even sparing the Autobots a glance as she passed them.

XXXXXX

If there was one thing Bulkhead hated more than Scraplets, it was being kept out of the loop. He spent almost a week in the med bay having Ratchet and Longarm work on his regenerating arm. They kept him confined to his recharge slab until both the arm and his armor had grown back and was fully functional once the new limb had acclimated to his body.

Constructing an arm from scratch was a hard process, as the medic had to get every joint, every servo, in place or else it wouldn't grow back right. Hence why reconstruction surgery was best left to professionals, and Ratchet was the best of his, or any, generation. He was glad that he was finally able to walk around again, but that relief changed to worry when Ratchet told him about Annie's misadventure involving Megatron.

"I can't believe she did that." Bulkhead muttered as Ratchet checked his arm over. "I'm all for slagging buckethead, but I would never fight him alone."

"Well Annie seems to have taken a leave of her senses lately." Ratchet said. He had Bulkhead make a fist and checked his arm's motor functions. "Even Optimus is at his wits end with her."

"At least we secured an entire energon mine." Longarm added. "We've got an entire stockpile of energon left behind by the Cons after we swooped in and chased them out. Got to thank her for that."

"Where is she now?" He asked.

"At home with Darren and their guardians. Optimus decided to save the lecture and sent her home." The good doctor answered and leaned back, giving Bulkhead the all clear. "She didn't look good. Though no words were said, it's obvious that she's grounded for now."

"I need to talk to see." Bulkhead hooped off the berth. "She might listen to me. Maybe I can see what's going on with her."

"Not right now you aren't." Ratchet held Bulkhead back. "She needs space right now. Annie went through a lot, and she needs to be away from our world right now. You can speak with her when she comes over tomorrow."

"But-"

"Annie isn't going to get better overnight and seeing you won't change anything. Just let her rest and recover."

Bulkhead sighed and nodded sadly. Ratchet patted his shoulder and sent him to his quarters. As he did so, his thoughts were plagued by Annie.

Bulkhead liked her. She was strong, outgoing and not afraid to get rough, a lot like him. In fact, she was a bit too much like him. Bulkhead remembered how he was like her back when he joined the Wreckers. He was so full of anger at seeing his home, a small town near Nova Cronum, get ravaged by a Decepticon raid that he wanted to kill everyone who wore a Decepticon badge. He felt helpless at saving his home, and he wanted to hide that pain, that vulnerability, under a layer of bravado and strength so that he wouldn't go through that again. He was thankful that Kup had broken him from that line of thinking, or else he would've gotten himself killed trying to be a hero. Annie did the same thing today, and he was scared at how far she was willing to go to get rid of this inferiority complex.

He reached his quarters and walked inside, falling onto his recharge slab and forced himself to fall asleep. He was going to see Annie tomorrow, and see what was going on with her. Something wasn't right, and he was going to find out.

XXXXXX

The next day was another gloomy, rainy school day. As if to match Annie's mood, the sky was grey with thunder booming in the distance. Aside from a few drizzles, it didn't let it out in droves, and the thunder in the background was just waiting to let lose its share of lightning bolts. The weather made everything feel ominous and it left the children with feelings of dread.

Annie was definitely feeling the effects of the weather. As she walked through the crowded school halls, she looked more like a pale zombie than the spry young girl she always was. Even the second-rate bullies Billy and Fred gave her a wide berth, not wanting to piss off an already annoyed Annie. This new girl looked nothing like the loud girl who was always the life of the party.

The change in her seemed to have happened overnight. Her skin was pale white, like she hadn't been in the sun for 13 years. But it wasn't a sickly white, rather, it was as if her skin had become as smooth and pale as marble, flawless of any abnormalities that kids her age usually had. Her hair was straighter, and more glossy than usual. Her lips were black, like she had put on black lipstick, and it made her green eyes stand out even more. Coupled with her dark, foreboding expression, it all made Annie look like someone who had all the life sucked out of her and still managed to look good in the process.

"Annie, just tell me what's wrong." Darren pestered her as he caught up to her. "You barely slept last night and you didn't eat breakfast. If you're still not feeling well from yesterday…"

"Just leave me alone." Annie didn't even try to talk to her brother as she walked past him. Darren shivered. Her voice was cool, lacking any of the heat it had yesterday. She was getting worse.

Halfway through her history class, Annie sat by the window listening to Ms. Masters drone on about some ancient queen that she didn't give a damn about. The window was open, and a cold breeze drifted inside and hit her bare arms, but she didn't mind. The cold kept her awake. The last thing she needed was getting reprimanded by the teacher for some crap like sleeping in class.

"Queen Jezebel was the wife of King Ahab of Bagdad. She was a peculiar woman with peculiar habits. One of those habits was forcing her husband and royal court to worship stone idols, gods who had a startling similarity to our modern day religions. Anyone who did otherwise were persecuted and either imprisoned or killed for their defiance." Ms. Master explained. "She ruled alongside her husband for 47 years before he died and continued to exert her influence with two more kings before Bagdad was destroyed in a coup. Legend has it that for her cruel ways, she ways, she was thrown from the castle wall, trample by horses and eaten by dogs. Not a fun way to go out."

Flay, who was sitting just a few seats away from Annie, raised her hand. When she was called upon, she asked, "Was Jezebel pretty?"

'For fucks sake.' Annie groaned internally. Could she be any more useless?

"Very," The teacher confirmed. "Jezebel was known for her beauty, but she was also known for her rather…odd interests. Aside from worshipping the idol who we know as Jubileus, Jezebel also had a strong fascination with roses. Paintings, carvings, jewelry, all had a rose motif that appeased her general obsession with the flower. No one knows why she loves roses so much, even back then, but we can only assume that it was because of her deteriorating sanity."

As she continued to talk about the fallen queen, Annie felt her ring warming up again and rubbed it to sooth the itching sensation on her finger. She felt someone staring at her and looked up to see Flay and one of her friends sneaking glances at her, snickering.

' _Look at them, acting like they're better than you because they're pretty. They'd go insane if they'd been through what you've experienced. You're stronger than them, and that makes you a threat.'_ Her inner voice said. ' _They have nothing but their looks to rely upon, but you have that and power. They have nothing on you.'_

'Shut up inner me.' Annie thought, running a hand through her hair, trying to mess it up only for it to return to normal.

' _Wouldn't it feel good just to slit their throats? Watch them slowly bleed out as they fall at your feet, begging for help that you cannot, will not, give? The world wouldn't bat an eyelash at their deaths, and neither should you!'_

'I said shut up!'

"Annie?"

"Huh?" Annie's mind returned to the real world, and she saw Ms. Masters standing over her desk, looking down at her concerned.

"It's time for lunch, Annie. You can go now." She said.

"Oh, sorry." Annie stood up and grabbed her bag, quickly leaving the classroom.

She stumbled her way through the hall, pushing people out of the way as she went to the bathroom. Annie dumped her bag on the floor and washed her face in ice cold water to clear her head. Taking a deep breath, she looked at herself in the mirror and didn't like the face looking back at her. It wasn't her face. It couldn't be.

"What's wrong with me?" She whispered. This was scaring her.

' _You're becoming perfect,'_ The Voice said. ' _Just like me. Soon you'll not only be powerful, but beautiful to.'_

"Who are you? I know you're not me, so who are you!" Annie screamed at the mirror. Her emerald green eyes had a red tint to them that was barely visible.

' _But dear, I am you. I am what you could be. What you should be.'_

"Ugh, really Annabelle? Talking to yourself in the mirror? Even I'm not that self-absorbed." Flay's voice sighed.

"Leave me alone." Annie growled, clutching the sink hard enough for her skin to pull tight against her knuckles.

"Not until you beat it." One of Flay's lackies spat. "We don't want to be alone with you here, so take a hike you dyke."

Annie's head snapped to her left so fast she heard her neck snap. "What did you call me?"

The girl took a step back after seeing the murderous look in Annie's eyes, but Flay took it in stride. "She called you a dyke. That's what you are right? Everyone knows you bat for the other team. Not much of a surprise, seeing as you're too much of a guy to have boys like you."

"At least I don't have to spread my legs to get a guy to look at me. Child prostitution is illegal if you haven't noticed." Annie replied. "Guess you take after your mother."

"My mother was a good woman who was killed by those freaks people like you and your brother seem to worship on a daily basis!" Flay snarled, her charming façade crumbling as she got into Annie's face. "At least my mother wasn't dumb enough to commit suicide."

Annie's grip on the sink caused the porcelain to crack.

"What, got nothing to say?" Flay smirked. "I see you big sister's been taking care of you and that loser brother of yours by herself. Must've been really hard. I wonder if she's been taking side jobs to keep you two above water. A pretty girl like that is perfect for a part time job as a backstreet-"

Annie punched Flay square in the nose, hearing a satisfying crunch as her knuckles broke bone and cut skin, drawing blood. The redhead fell onto her back and Annie jumped on top of her, pummeling her face with punches, grabbing at her hair. The ring made the assault worse as it left gashes in Flay's pretty features, acting like brass knuckles as it hit bare flesh.

"Stop it, stop it!" Flay cried out, but Annie showed her no mercy.

' _That's it, show her your dominance! Make her pay! Teach her what happens when she tries to stand up to her betters!'_

More blood covered the rose, turning the once lavender flower red…just like a real rose.

XXXXX

Annie's explosion at school had gotten her a week-long suspension, with Flay being sent to the hospital unconscious and possibly needing stitches. She would be okay, but the girl would have scars for life. Darren took Annie home himself, with High Wire and Grindor acting as bodyguards in case she went crazy again, but thankfully she stayed docile. When Debbie returned home upon getting the news, she came right home and that's when the trouble began.

Darren sat in the reclining chair watching his sisters go at it with each other. He had the Minicons wait upstairs so they could have some private family time. Not that it could be called that given they were anything but quiet.

"I can't believe you Annie," Debbie said, pacing in front of her little sister. "I thought you had more sense than that. You're lucky Flay's aunt isn't pressing charges for medical bills after you almost gave the girl a concussion."

"She was asking for it!" Annie yelled. "Insulting our mother, calling you a whore, I'm just doing what others are too scared to do; teaching her a lesson!"

"That doesn't excuse your actions. You can't just go on punching everyone who makes you mad."

"Whatever," Annie snorted and stood up. "I'm grounded, so what? Darren, let's go."

"You're not going to the Ark, Annie," Debbie said, looking a bit reluctant to say this. "And neither are you Darren."

"I'm sorry, what?" Darren gaped at her. "What did I do?"

"I let you kids stay with the Autobots because I thought they could protect you, keep you safe from those Decepticons. But now I hear you're piloting Talos into battle and fighting those things! Not to mention that Annie almost got killed fighting Megatron alone!"

"But that wasn't the Autobots' fault!" Annie said.

Debbie shook her head. "It doesn't matter, Annie. You're kids, you should be worrying about grades, puberty, what to do on the weekends, not fighting for your life every day in a war."

"Debbie, the Bots and Minicons have been keeping us safe before you even had a clue about all this." Darren said, not letting this go. "You can't just run from this. The Cons will attack us now, Autobots or no Autobots."

"I'm not arguing with you on this, Darren. Neither of you are going back to them and that's final." She said sternly and sighed. "I'm sorry guys, but I just want to keep you safe."

"Ha! That's a laugh!" Annie let out a sharp, scathing laugh that made Debbie step back. She had a fierce scowl on her face as she glared hard at her older sister. "You protect us? Like how you protected Darren?"

"What are you talking about."

Annie stomped towards Debbie until she was staring her right in the eyes. "You think I wouldn't notice? That I wouldn't notice how you would use underhanded fear tactics to scare him into not using his powers, or even practicing with them? You use the Friends of Humanity as some kind of imaginary boogeymen to cull him into listening to you, making him into a coward afraid of himself, someone who hates what he is!"

"I've never done that to Darren, and you know that. I told him not to use his powers because this world is no safe place for espers anymore." Debbie replied.

"Don't give me that shit! Anyone who does that and has the balls to do that and call it helping has no right to call themselves my family!"

"Annie…" Debbie looked heartbroken. Annie turned to walk away, but Darren grabbed her arm.

"That was too far, Annie you didn't have to say that!" He scolded her.

"Let go of me, Darren…" She said, not looking back at him.

"No! I won't let go, not now. You've been acting strange ever since you started wearing that ring, and now it's turning you into some monster. Please, Annie, you wouldn't be saying all these things if you weren't wearing-"

"I SAID LET GO!"

Annie's left hand shot up and backhanded Darren across the face. Debbie looked on shocked and appalled at what she did as Darren fell to a knees, holding his hand over a deep gash in his left cheek. Blood leaked through his fingers as he stared up at Annie in surprise. Even Annie was horrified by what she did.

Tears falling, Annie spun around and ran up stairs, pushing past High Wire and Grindor, who were listening in, and ran to her room, slamming the door shut and locking it. Grindor tried to go after her, but he couldn't get the door open.

"Annie! Annie open up!" Grindor called out, but all he heard was crying. High Wire put a hand on his shoulder.

"Let her be alone for a while. She needs some space." He said. "You can bunk with Darren and me until she's doing better."

Grindor just nodded and sulked against the door. He hated himself for not keeping his friend happy. Fighting Cons was one thing, emotions were a different matter entirely.

XXXXXX

"How are you feeling Bulk?" Wheeljack asked as he strolled into the rec room.

"Like new," Bulkhead said, flexing his new arm. He threw a couple of punches and was glad to find that it wasn't as stiff as he thought it would be. "Feels a bit weird though."

"Your neurocircuits still need to properly connect first, so it still might feel a bit out of place." Ratchet said. "Don't do anything strenuous until then."

"Got it doc."

"Bulkhead!" Bumblebee ran into room, looking like he just saw Megatron himself in the Ark. He was running so fast that he ran into Ironhide as he was getting a drink from the dispenser.

"Whoa there, kid. Where's the fire?" Ironhide asked.

"We've got an emergency," Bumblebee said. "Darren just called, he says Annie's missing!"

Bulkhead felt his Spark stop. "What?"

He pushed past the scout and ran down the hall to where Optimus and Prowl were in the command center. Judging by the grim looks on their faces, they also got the bad news.

"According to Darren, she was gone when they woke up this morning. Grindor was locked out of her room, so he doesn't know what happened to her." Prowl explained. "Only that there was no sign of a struggle. She went on her own."

"Why would she do that?" Bulkhead was trying not to panic, but it was getting hard not to.

"She had a fight with Darren and Debbie and didn't come out for the entire evening and night. We think she might've run away on her own just for spite but-"

"Who cares about the why? Just tell me where." Bulkhead cut in. since she also had one of Rollbar's Auto-trackers, they should be able to find her with Teletran-1.

"That's the problem, she didn't take her watch." Optimus said grimly. "We already have teams out looking for her, and Darren has requested that you help him search the forest."

"I'll be there, Optimus. Just bridge me there and-"

There was a loud bang, followed by some yelling from Jetfire. The three Autobots thought Wheeljack had blown up another one of his inventions, but Liftor came running into the room with a panicked look on his face.

"It's Mjolnir," He stammered. "It just flew out of here! Busted through the roof like it was nothing."

Optimus narrowed his eyes and looked hard at Bulkhead. "Go!"

XXXXXX

Darren forced himself to stay calm as he searched the skies within the cockpit of the Prometheus, searching for some sign of Annie. Down below, Bulkhead drove through the streets of Tranquility, with the combined Centurion sitting in his back seat and Sara in the front. Gina had lent both girls to help Darren in her place, and Debbie was looking alongside Arcee. With the news of Mjolnir's disappearance, it would mean a solid way for them to find Annie.

"Do you have a visual on Mjolnir, Darren?" Bulkhead asked over the comm.

"Nothing yet." He replied, keeping his eyes peeled. "Come on, where is it?"

"The hammer is flying all the way from Washington, Darren. And it doesn't exactly move at mach 2 speed." Centurion told him. "We just have to be vigilant."

"I know, it's just…if I had approached Annie sooner, maybe all this could've been avoided. She's been on a downward slope lately and I didn't do a damn thing!" He gritted his teeth. An alert on his panel caught his attention and he saw a green dot moving close to the city. "I got a fix on it."

"Then point me in the right direction." Bulkhead increased his speed, driving straight for the outskirts of the city.

Darren flew low to the forest, near the road Bulkhead was on, and together they saw the golden hammer fly straight at them before making a sharp right into the trees. Darren brought his Talos even lower to the ground and followed the hammer, careful not to hit any low braches. Bulkhead tore up the ground in his haste to catch up, but he insisted that Darren not wait up for him. They followed the hammer for a few minutes before Darren abruptly stopped and put his robot's foot down to stop Bulkhead in his tracks as well.

"Hold up," Said Darren, looking around.

"Hold up? We need to follow that hammer or we're going to lose it!" Bulkhead exclaimed but Darren didn't budge.

"Something's not right. We should've run into Annie by now." Darren observed. He took out his beam rifle and put his Prometheus into combat mode. "I just realized that Annie can't control Mjolnir from a far distance away. She can only do it if it's in her line of sight or if she knows it's close by."

Bulkhead let Sara and Centurion out before transforming and shifting his blaster. "So you're saying we're walking into a trap?"

"I'd say we're already in the trap." Darren replied.

Sara suddenly tensed up and grabbed Centurion, pulling him away just as a field of black lightning assaulted Bulkhead and the Prometheus. The Autobot cried out in pain and fell to his knees, while the Prometheus wobbled a bit before it fell over into a tree. Darren grunted as he felt the electrical charge, but wasn't seriously harmed. But the same could not be said for his unit's systems. They were shorting out on the spot and it wasn't long before the Prometheus went completely dark.

"Shit!" Darren tried to move his machine, but it wasn't responding. He pulled the emergency lever and opened the hatch, climbing out and running over to Bulkhead. "You alright?"

"I'll be fine when I learn what the hell that was about." Bulkhead grumbled, his mood even worse after that little stunt.

"I believe that was the trap." Sara informed them. Darren gave her a dry look, but withheld any scathing remarks.

"Come out here you coward! We know you're here!" Bulkhead roared and slammed his fists together. "I'm not in the mood for your slag and let's get this started already!"

Just as he called out his challenge, a pale hand emerged from the ground and punched Bulkhead in the chest. He crashing to the ground and rolled to his feet. Sara acted quickly, picking up Darren and jumping back as a large form pulled itself from the dirt and foliage like a deformed plant. Centurion readied the omni-saber for battle.

The creature that emerged looked like a mix between a human and a planet, specifically a rose. From the shoulders down, was an armless humanoid body that sat on its knees crawling across the ground. Where it's head should be were five plant stalks that each ended in a rose. From the buds of those roses were body parts, hands, an ear, a mouth and finally the head, which was a woman's face with short black hair and pitch black eyes with a smooth sheet of skin where her mouth would be. The head extension looked down at her prey with mirth.

"It feels so good to be alive again," She said, her mouth talking and waving around in the air, but her head stayed in place as she stared down at them. "It took you long enough to find me. I thought I was going to meet lure you here myself."

"Where's my sister you freak!" Darren shouted. He knew Annie was somewhere around here and he didn't have time to waste with this monster.

"I am no freak, you peasant! I am Jezebel, beloved queen of Bagdad and your mortal goddess. Show some respect lest I smite you where you stand!

"I couldn't care if you were Primus himself, I only came here for one thing and that's Annie." Bulkhead said, leveling his blaster at her. "Now scram!"

"Oh, you mean the girl? She belongs to meet now," Jezebel's mouth grinned, revealing a mouth full of dagger-like teeth. "Such anger, such inner turmoil. Why, she reminds me of myself at that age."

She waved a hand, and a rose sprouted from the ground. The flower petals opened up to reveal Annie sitting in the rose bud, but she didn't look like the girl they knew. Annie's skin was deathly white, and her eyes were black as night, with her green pupils now blood red. Bandages wrapped tightly around her lithe body from her shoulders to her feet, covering her arms to her elbows and encasing her legs up to her thighs. The crystal ring still sat on her finger, but it was pulsating like a heart.

"Annie," Darren gasped. "What the hell did you do to her?"

"I merely gave her what she wanted, power." Jezebel said, reaching over to caress Annie's body like a priceless doll. "She looks entrancing doesn't she? Your sister is now a girl both superior to all in beauty and power. This is her calling."

"Give her back!" Darren shot forward, uprooting the ground and sending tendrils of hardened dirt and wood at Jezebel. She snapped her fingers and black lances dissolved the tendrils and nearly blasted Darren away had Sara not pulled him back.

"It is not advisable to fight her with your lack of armaments." Sara said.

"Such poor manners, you need to be taught a lesson." Jezebel looked at Annie. "Annie, teach your brother how to act properly before a lady."

Annie nodded and rushed towards her brother and the android. Sara jumped away from an axe-kick that shattered the trunk of a tree and ran from the battle as Annie chased after her. Darren yelled at Sara to let him go, but she ignored him. With the humans gone, Jezebel turned to Bulkhead and Centurion.

"Now that kids are away," She grinned. "Shall we play?"

"You're going down tulip lady!" Bulkhead fired his blaster at her head without pause, shooting like he was overcharged on energon.

Jezebel laughed as the blasts hit a barrier before her and swiped her hand, sending multiple black bolts at the Cybertronians. Bulkhead and Centurion jumped apart as the bolts tore into the ground and the trees behind them and they charged at her from different angles. Centurion slashed at her ear, but it moved and batted him away with great force. Bulkhead tried to attack her lower body, but Jezebel grabbed him and threw him away. The green Autobot smashed through a tree and hit the ground hard.

"That's the spirit! Come on, try to kill me! Give your queen a show!" Jezebel cackled.

Bulkhead cursed at her and fired his blaster again. He wasn't going to give up until Annie was free, no matter what!

XXXXXXX

Darren grunted as he was knocked back by Annie's fist impacting his telekinetic shield. She leapt at him and followed through with a kick that almost took him down, but he kept his defenses up. Annie's strength, speed, and nearly everything else had been augmented to the next level, each punch she threw, each kick she sent at him, felt like getting hit by Leader-1 on a full energon binge. His knees buckled under the pressure, but he didn't let up. If he did, she'd kill him.

'I need to get her back to her senses,' Darren thought. 'But how?'

Annie let out a demonic howl and kicked Darren's shield so hard that he was knocked back into a tree trunk, knocking the breath from him. She charged at him, pulling her fist back to punch his head off. But Sara came swooping down on her, slamming into her like a wrecking ball and pinning her to the ground. Annie kicked her off, but the android flipped in the air and landed on a tree branch.

Black lightning crackled between Annie's fingers as she sent a couple of bolts at Sara. Sara dodged them and pushed off the tree to shoot herself at Annie. When more bolts were fired at her, when summoned her repulsor shield to block the worst of it before kicking her in the head. Annie stumbled to the side, but she grabbed Sara's leg and slammed her to the ground. She prepared to rip the android's leg off, but something heavy hit her from behind and she hit the ground a few feet away from her.

"Annie," Darren panted. His whole body was encased in a see-through psionic exoskeleton that looked similar to his Talos, an armor of telekinetic energy that he manifest from sheer force of will. "Don't let that thing control you. You're stronger than this."

Annie howled and lunged at Darren, reaching for his neck, but Sara's hand shot up and grabbed her arm. With strength betraying her physical size, she spun around and threw Annie away, sending her crashing through two trees. Sara stalked towards the girl, deploying her laser blades.

"Don't hurt her!" Darren yelled. "She's Annie, my sister. Your friend."

"That's not your sister anymore." Sara said, not stopping her stride. But suddenly she found her legs frozen in place and glanced back at Darren. "Let go of me!"

A lightning bolt hit the ground in front of them and blasted them back by the explosion. Annie rushed out of the smoke and kicked Sara in the stomach, crunching metal underfoot and sent the robot girl into the ground with a loud boom. Annie landed in the dirt and turned to Darren, eyes flashing madly. Darren cursed his luck and ran to face his sister.

XXXXXX

Centurion let out a war cry as he stabbed the omni-saber into Jezebel's hand. She hissed and flicked him away with that same limb, smashing him into the ground. Bulkhead hit her legs with his wrecking ball and heard the gratifying crunch of bone and cartilage under his strength. More energy lances were sent his way, but he ducked through the trees, staying mobile as he avoided the deadly projectiles. Centurion tried to slash at her head, but he moved out of the way and fired a beam from her mouth. He blocked it with the sword, but was sent flying a few feet away from them, hitting the ground at the foot of an oak tree.

"You are persistent ones, I'll give you that." Jezebel said as she crawled forward, hands crunching leaves, dirt and rocks beneath her fingers. "All this effort for a girl."

"She's my friend, of course I'd go through the trouble to get her back." Bulkhead replied. "She's just a girl who got dealt a bad hand. Don't go playing around with her like she's some toy!"

"She was mine the minute she wore my ring!" Jezebel's limbs slithered in the air like snakes ready to strike. "The girl and I are one and the same now. Kill me and she dies as well."

"Like I'm gonna believe that slag!"

Bulkhead fired a blast at Jezebel's head, hitting her in the eyes and making her reel back in pain. He ran forward and smashed his wrecking ball into her hand, breaking multiple fingers in the process. She snarled and backhanded him hard enough to knock him into a tree. Jezebel punched the ground and thorny vines shot from the ground to wrap around Bulkhead's body tightly. Having restrained him, Jezebel's head leaned down and glared into Bulkhead's face.

"Listen closely machine," She hissed. "I am the only thing that Annie needs in her life, the only one who could give her what she wants; power, strength, beauty, she has it all now. All that is left for her is to cut her ties with her old life and she can be reborn. And that means she has to kill the boy…and I kill you!"

The vines around his limbs tightened and started to squeeze him. Bulkhead grunted pain as he was slowly being crushed, but dint stop trying to escape. He wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of seeing his pain.

XXXXXX

Mjolnir hit him like a thunderbolt. It was fast, too fast for him to see and it crashed into the back of his TK armor, slamming him into the ground. Annie waved her hand, and Mjolnir circle around for another air strike, but Darren jumped away just in time. When it flew towards Annie, Darren reached out with his telekinetic senses and pulled on the hammer as well. Annie flexed her hand to increase the pull, but Darren kept a tight hold on it as well.

Both twins fought for control over the ancient hammer, and neither was backing down. Darren felt himself getting pulled towards Mjolnir and saw Annie doing the same. They were going to meet at the hammer, and their tug of war was going to turn into a vastly one-sided fist fight. The effort in trying to keep it from moving was causing Darren some intense strain and he wasn't sure if he could keep it up.

Then Sara lunged at Annie from behind, slamming her shoulder into her spine. Annie fell over and Darren won the tug of war, pulling on Mjolnir and flinging the hammer away as far as he could. Sara was grabbed around the neck by Annie, who leapt into the air and punched her in the chest, knocking Sara to the ground. Darren leapt up and barreled into his sister, sending both twins into the ground. They rolled around in the dirt, grappling with each other, throwing punches and scratches to wound or kill. Darren managed to tear off the bandages covering Annie's mouth, revealing black painted lips set in a scowl.

Annie kicked him off onto his back and leapt into the air, coming down on him and slamming her feet into his abdomen. The move made Darren wheez and shatter his TK armor, and Annie moved in for the kill. She knelt down and wrapped her hands around his neck, but Darren summoned a small barrier between her hands and his throat, but that didn't stop him from choking.

"A-Annie," He coughed. "This isn't you. You're no murderer, you are no killer. I know that there are things that set you off, things that push you to the edge. I know you hate being weak…"

Annie increased her pressure on his throat and he struggled to keep her hands away for just a minute longer. "I am not weak! I am strong!"

"Jazz taught me that true strength, I admitting your weaknesses." Darren rapsed. He was starting to lose control now. "I know you blame yourself for mom's death, how weak and helpless it made you feel. But you can only get by so far in life on your own. Feeling sad and scared doesn't make you weak, Annie, it makes you who you are."

Darren took his hands off her wrists and raised them to her cheeks, patting them the way he always did when they were babies. Annie recognized the gesture and he smiled.

"It's normal to feel this way, everyone does, but the true question is if you can overcome it and become a better person from that suffering." He told her. "You don't have to face everything by yourself. I'm here, and so is Debbie, Gina, Grindor and everyone else. We're all here for each other, and we can help you become stronger in both mind and body. We're twins first and foremost, Annie. We share everything. So let me share your pain."

Annie had stopped trying to choke him and was crying. Her eyes, though still black, lost their red tint and returned to green. She blinked when she saw her brother under her covered in bruises and jumped back. A strong pain surged through her brain as Jezebel's voice rang in her thoughts.

' _Kill him! Kill him now and you will truly become almighty!_ Jezebel bellowed in her head. ' _You will become a goddess with his blood!'_

'Not at the cost of throwing everyone I care about away!' Annie yelled back. 'I am no one's pawn! I am my own person!'

' _No! you belong to me!'_

The ring began to violently electrocute Annie, sending energy surging through her body via the roots embedded into her finger from the ring. Annie screamed and fell to her knees. Darren crawled over to her, grabbing her hand and tried to pull the ring off. He winced as he also felt excruciating pain, but he ignored it and tried to telekinetically pull it off, only for it to still not budge.

"It won't come off!" He shouted.

' _I will not be refused. The girl is mine! Who are you to deny me my rights?'_ Jezebel said through the ring.

Through the pain, Annie willed a black dagger to form in her other hand. Darren saw her position it over her ring finger and tried to stop her.

"Wait, don't it!"

"I'm getting this thing off, one way or another!" Annie shouted and stabbed the dagger into her finger.

XXXXXX

The crystal ring Annie wore was an anchor for Jezebel to remain in the physical world. Having died as a human, Jezebel's soul had been retrieved by her so-called goddess and placed within a new, more powerful form, but she couldn't return to life. The ring, which had been hers in her past life, was her only way of getting to see the sun again, and only if it gained enough energy to allow her to pass through. Annie, a girl who was so much like Jezebel in her youth, was the best candidate for the task of being her avatar, anchoring Jezebel to the world in return for receiving her power, good and bad.

Thus, when Annie cut off her finger, she severed the connection between them and Jezebel lost her anchor. This had a detrimental effect on her.

"Kraaaaahhhhhhhh!" Jezebel screamed in pain as she felt her connection to Annie get cut. "You little whore!"

Bulkhead felt the vines around him loosen and flexed his limbs, snapping the vines and getting free. He fired a laser blast at Jezebel's face and was happy to see it hit her dead on, causing her to recoil. Her mouth snarled and snapped at him, but another blast blew it and the upper chunk of the flower stalk off in one shot. Jezebel fired a lightning bolt, from her hand, but that to was severed by Centurion. Her movements were getting sluggish and her power was fading.

"You all deserve to go to hell!" Jezebel cried, stumbling about like a sick, twisted version of the woman she once was. Blood poured profusely from her wounds her lower body pushed against the ground in pain. Bulkhead marched over to what's left of her mouth and tore it off.

"I'm getting tired of hearing you yap." He said.

" _No_ ," Her voice whined in their minds. " _I can't die…like this…I am immortal…undying…I will not fade again…"_

Centurion jumped onto her head from above and she tried to shake him off, but her struggles were so weak that he had no trouble staying on. He jumped into the air and descended upon her, bring the omni-saber down in a downward strike that cut clean through the muscles of her neck, sending her head falling to the ground. Bulkhead watched her body wobble a bit before falling over to its side, the rose petals wilting like they had been deprived of water. Centurion took several steps back to avoid staining his feet with blood.

"Annie, Darren!" Bulkhead ran towards where he last saw the twins and Sara go earlier in the fight and hoped that they'd be okay. It wasn't hard to track them from the chaos left in their wake.

He found them inside a crater not too far from them. The hole was deep, a result of the fallout left behind by Annie's severing of the connection. Sara sat by them, holding them both close despite the damages she suffered, lying their heads in her lap. Her expression was almost relieved as she looked up and nodded at Bulkhead. The ordeal was over.

XXXXXXX

When Annie opened her eyes, she had to close them again from the bright light. Eventually her sight returned and she saw that she was lying on a bed in the Ark's med bay. Judging from the bed she was in, she guessed that she was in the corner of the med bay where the Minicons were repaired, and it was retrofitted to accommodate humans as well. Ratchet really did think ahead. She felt a soft weight on her left leg and looked down to see Debbie asleep on her bedside. Her face was wet with dry tears.

"Debbie," Annie whispered.

"Nice to see you're awake sis." A weak voice said.

Annie turned to her right and saw Darren lying on another bed close to hers. His face and arms were covered in bandages and he was dressed in a tacky bathrobe that had the Autobot symbol on the back (an early birthday gift from Rollbar). Annie was surprised to see Gina also asleep at Darren's side, holding his hand tightly, her glasses crooked.

"Darren," She said softly. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just took a bad dose of intense pain from that stupid ring of yours." Darren said, keeping his voice low so he would not wake up the girls. They can have a group discussion later, this was between twins. "But, I look a bit better than you, at least."

Annie's entire body was wrapped in bandages, covering the burns she obtained during her rebellion against Jezebel. The places where Sara had hit her still ached, though they were not serious injuries. She felt her left wrapped up tightly and slowly lifted it to see that it was missing her ring finger. The tiny stump a clean cut where she crudely severed Jezebel's ring.

"That was a drastic move, cutting off your own finger to cut the connection." Darren explained. "Ironically, Bulkhead said that you saved him from losing anymore of his limbs. Funny how he came to save you and the opposite ends up happening. He said that you're even now."

Annie stared at her four fingered hand for a minute. "…This is what I get for all the crap I put you and everyone else through." She turned to Darren. "Darren, I'm so-"

"Shush." He said, smiling softly, and laid his head back down on the pillow. "I know. I'm your twin remember? We can talk later. Right now, let's get some sleep."

Annie gave him a teary smile and nodded. "That sounds great."

They closed their eyes, and almost unconsciously, their hands reached out and held each other, not wanting to feel alone as they let their exhaustion take over.

"Darren?"

"Yes, Annie?"

"…I love you."

"Love you to, sis."

For both of them, the nightmare was finally over.


	33. Before the Storm

Chapter 33-Before the Storm

Optimus sat at the bar in the rec room with some of the other Autobots, having a much needed energon break. With all the crazy events that surrounded Annie and Jezebel, they needed a reprieve. Both her and Darren were still recovering from their ordeal, and were taking a little break from working with the Autobots for a while (despite Debbie still wanting to keep the twins away from them, Darren and Annie made it very clear that they weren't just going to up and leave the Bots). Optimus couldn't argue them wanting to take a break from them. Things had been getting rather intense lately, and he felt like taking a vacation from it all.

Lacking mouths, Optimus and his (unofficial) drinking buddy Jetfire had to have tubes connected to their arms to channel directly into their internal systems. Jetfire was chatting with Bumblebee on his golden days as a Seeker captain back on Cybertron, Bulkhead and Ironhide were engaged in an arm wrestling match with Jazz acting as judge and Arcee was playing with Peppercat, dangling a string in front of the red cat-former. There was nothing special about this little gathering, just soldiers trying to rest and recharge from this never-ending struggle of theirs.

Jazz glanced over at Optimus, who was intently reading a datapad while sipping his can of Kremzeek. "You know, if you stare at that thing any longer it'll burst into flames."

"Hm?" Optimus looked up. "Did you say something Jazz?"

"What are you reading bossbot?" Jazz questioned. "I doubt it's the Sunday news."

"I was reading the information that Gina and Sara had gathered for me." Optimus skimmed over the text on the datapad. "The angels have clearly been involved in humanity's ancient past. They might have even helped in the creation of the Arian Empire. But the question that I'm trying to answer is why were they here in the first place?"

"You're trying to learn about those freaky statue-things from looking at dusty old paintings and religious hullabaloo?" Jetfire snorted and leaned back in his seat. "Good luck with that."

"Aren't they just here to conquer this world and enslave its people and all that jazz?" Jazz grinned at the joke he made and Arcee rolled her eyes. "I mean, they have a strong god complex that makes those Circle of Light bots look sane."

"Jazz be nice, they aren't that bad." Arcee lightly scolded. "But he is right. They seem pretty intent on asserting their dominance over Terra, and we're in their way of getting the job done."

"I don't know. I think their animosity against us is more than just eliminating the competition." Said Optimus, stopping on a passage he just finished. "What I've just recently read was…disturbing to say the least."

The Autobots gave each other worried glances. Unfounded as they may be, anything that can make Optimus nervous was not something they could brush off. As the Matrix bearer, he was subject to seeing and hearing things outside the scope of the common bot. this made him the foremost expert on all things metaphysical and supernatural, though he didn't know much in those subjects himself. Commanding an army was hard enough without cosmic events trying to snuff him out.

Jazz looked over Prime's shoulder and read the passage. "Are you reading a doom prophecy, bossbot?"

"Seriously? This I gotta see." Jetfire looked at the datapad with Arcee and Bumblebee. "What's it talking about?"

"Something about nine spheres aligning and the heralding of the coming judgment brought about by God's messengers," Jazz said, frowning. "Man, they talk about divine justice a lot."

"It's a religious prophecy, expect to see at least three of those phrases per scripture." Jetfire snapped his fingers.

"Nine spheres?" Bulkhead inquired.

"It's referring to nine planets, specifically the nine planets of the Sol system." Optimus explained. "The passage foretells of an event that will happen when all nine planets align, ushering in the arrival of the Messengers."

"…Alignment as in the planetary alignment the humans were talking about on the telly?" Jetfire questioned, sounding a little nervous. "The one happening in a few days?"

Optimus nodded. "The very same."

That made everyone even more uneasy. All this talk of angels and messengers reminded them of Fortitudo of the Cardinals, a powerful being who very nearly wiped them off the face of the planet. The various encounters Autobots and Decepticons had with those strange, angelic beings were growing in number, and it set everyone on edge. Now there was some prophecy referring to a very real cosmic event that was going to happen less than 20 hours from now. It could be a coincidence, but Optimus wasn't taking any chances.

As for Optimus, he felt something ominous in the air. The Matrix was giving off one of its feelings again, a warning that something not of this world was coming. The last time it did this, Fortitudo tried to kill them all. If this had something to do with another event involving those angels, he wanted to be ready. But he couldn't gleam anything on these beings just from reading religious allegories and folk tales.

"Speaking of doom prophecies," Bumblebee spoke up. "Where's Prowl?"

"Hanging out with Jackie and Ratchet." Bulkhead answered. "They're still dissecting Jezebel's corpse. If you ask me, we should've just burned that monster and scatter the ashes over the sea."

Ironhide snorted. "That's the thing. Prowl doesn't ask permission, he just tells you what he's going to do."

XXXXXX

Prowl looked down at the remains of the monster that was Jezebel, the demon that possessed Annie and nearly killed Bulkhead, Darren and Centurion. A few days had passed since she was killed, and already her body was showing signs of decoy. The petals on her flower extensions were brown and shriveled up, and the smooth skin on the body parts looked older and wrinkled. Aside from that, she didn't decay any further or even show signs of rigor mortis.

The corpse sat on an operating table in Ratchet's med lab, with both the medic and Wheeljack examining every inch of the body. After hearing Bulkhead's account on Jezebel's connection to the ring, he wanted to know just what he was dealing with. All these enemies with supernatural powers and it was starting to grate on Prowl's nerves.

"So did you find anything out yet?" Prowl asked them.

"Aside from the obvious, there's nothing much else to learn." Ratchet said, looking at a piece of the rose petal through a proton microscope. "She's not an angel, since she's flesh and blood. But Jezebel's genetic makeup suggests that she's human."

"She doesn't look human, Ratchet." Prowl pointed out, running his steel hard gaze along the massive body. He made sure to avoid looking at the head. Those lifeless eyes still held her last expressions of fear and anger, and even Prowl couldn't look into those inky black orbs of hers.

"Thank you for that observation Prowl," Ratchet didn't even try to hide his annoyance with Prowl butting in on his explanation. "As I was saying, her genetic composition is similar to a human's, but overall she is something else. Even the roses have human DNA in them."

"So what does that tell us?"

"It tells us that Jezebel might've been human." Ratchet shrugged. "Gina once told me that Jezebel was a Middle Eastern queen in ancient times, and Bulkhead had told me of a few things Jezebel said that prove that claim. She might be that very same queen."

Prowl remembered that as well. Jezebel worshipped an idol, the goddess Jubileus, who was the inspiration for the Church of Andraste's religion. Fortitudo mentioned that name as well, as if in reverence even as he died. If this really if the same Jezebel of the kingdom of Bagdad, then how did she become like this? Was she another one of the angel's works to?

As he pondered this, he looked over to Wheeljack, who was studying the ring. The once lavender crystal ring was cracked down the middle, and had faded into black, probably after Annie severed it from her body. The rose was cut in half, and the ring itself had tiny, barely visible roots along the inside of the circle, roots that had been digging into Annie's finger and feeding her Jezebel's essence, while simultaneously leeching power from the girl. That information had been supplied by Annie herself, who was still suffering from the after effects of Jezebel's control. Ratchet did not have a good time trying to pull Annie's finger, which was still attached to the ring, away from the leeching roots. Prowl had to admire the girl's strength so far, what she had gone through would drive a lesser person insane.

When he inquired Wheeljack as to what he learned about the ring, the engineer had given the most basic answer possible. "Nothing. Whatever gave this ring its power is gone now, as evidenced by the lack of color in the crystal. I'm getting some really faint energy readings from the shards that are similar to what Mjolnir and Nightshade's bow runs on. I'm going to assume that this energy is what morphed Annie into that…thing."

"Yes, but what is it? We keep running into this energy but aside from a few traces of it, we barely know anything about it." Prowl grunted in frustration. He didn't like being in the dark about this, not knowing what was coming, not having a plan. He liked to be prepared, to have something to base his investigations on. It was times like this that he wished he was still a mechaforensics officer again. "So many questions and no answers."

"Well there's no point in worrying about things we can't change." Wheeljack sighed and patted Prowl on the shoulder. "We're doing our best here, but we can't on much from corpses alone."

Prowl vented some air and nodded. "I know. Keep up the good work you two."

Prowl turned to leave the med bay, and Ratchet gave him some classic advice. "Don't push yourself too hard, Prowl. It won't do you any good to be distracted at this point in the game."

'That's not my problem.' Prowl thought. 'I'm not pushing myself hard enough.'

Again he was amazed at how out of control things had gotten since they awakened on this world. They were stranded on a planet that wasn't even registered in their stellar database, they've broken protocol and exposed themselves to the natives, engaged with another organization that knows of their existence, and now they have another alien entity that is dead set on wiping them out. Too many rogue elements were involved and it irritated Prowl to no end at how no one was at least trying to salvage this operation. And Prowl hated being irritated.

Prowl liked having a plan, something to keep things under control and guide them. It kept things orderly and clean, allowing him to focus on doing his job in this war. But Optimus and the others seem content with rushing forward and shooting their guns nonstop or were too busy fraternizing with the humans and Minicons to focus on fighting the Cons. Has no one ever tried to find the Nemesis? Has anyone questioned why the Minicons had combiner technology in the first place? No one was asking the big questions, but that was why Prowl had his job, to look into these things and ascertain their threat level and overall effect on their combat prowess.

They were fighting an unknown enemy with tremendous power, and Prowl was not willing to sit by and wait for another one of those things to attack them. He had to go about this logically. Let the others run into battle like Wreckers on a suicide mission, he had his priorities straight, and that involved winning this war by any means necessary.

XXXXXX

Nightshade and Songbird flew over the snowy mountaintops of the Gong Gong mountain range in Xing. The weather was deathly cold and a windy, but it was nothing she couldn't fly through. Thankfully the weather was clear, sparing her the pain of flying through a snowstorm or something equally as stupid. The pair were scouting for energon at the moment, thanks to the Autobots capturing and cleaning out their largest mine, and were pulling double duty. Nightshade didn't mind the extra work as it saved her the trouble of having to go on a scavenger hunt for another accursed Minicon. She was getting tired of being humiliated by the humans' toy robots.

" _Lady Nightshade,"_ Blackout called over the comm-channel. " _This is Blackout, do you copy?"_

"I hear you Blackout. What is it?"

" _Search just detected a faint energy signature not too far from your position, just a few kliks due east."_

"Copy that, I'll go check it out." She said.

" _But shouldn't you wait for back-up?"_ Blackout asked. " _Lord Megatron had specific orders for us to go in pairs."_

"I know what his orders are, Blackout. I'm not a protoform. I can take care of myself." Nightshade said sharply. "And I never said I was alone. Now send me the coordinates."

" _Yes ma'am."_

Nightshade got the data via their comm-link and tilted her sleek form to the right towards the location he sent. To her surprise, it wasn't that far from their current position, and they almost flew right past it. That was odd, with her long range sensors, she should've been able to detect something at this distance. Even as she approached the coordinates, which was a small mountain with a hole at the top, none of her long or short range sensor arrays were giving any indication to any energy readings.

"Blackout, am I at the right place?"

" _Yes. I triple checked the coordinates."_ He replied. " _You're right on top of it."_

Narrowing her eyes, Nightshade switched modes and had Songbird powerlink with her. As soon as the rush of energy through her body faded, she descended into the top of the mountain. As she got lower into the mountain, she learned the entire upper half of the mountain was hollowed out, too cleanly to be entirely natural. Seeing that there wasn't any visible threat, Nightshade cut off her thrusters and fell the rest of the way. She landed in a deep pond of ice cold water, far enough from the top that there was barely any light coming from the outside. She switched the setting on her optical vision to infrared and took a look around.

It felt like she was inside a giant dome. There was nothing to see here, no rock formations, no caves or tunnels, not even any hephaestium. Just one giant cavern filled with ankle deep water. But as she took one step forward, the water under her began to bubble.

In a heartbeat, Nightshade leapt back and pointed her railgun at the bubbling water, thinking it to be some nocturnal creature. Heaven knows that this planet has strange enough creatures already, a monster that lives in a cave isn't so far-fetched in her mind.

But it wasn't a monster. It was a pedestal. Nightshade watched perplexed as a stone pedestal slowly rose up out of the water, a crunchy, gravelly sound filling the cavern as it rose up to about Nightshade's height before stopping. The stone structure had a cone-shaped energy field and inside it was a golden disk. As she got closer she saw numerous symbols on the disk, and none of it looked Cybertronian or Terran.

"This is interesting." She muttered and keyed her communicator. "Blackout, come over to my position and call for a ground bridge. I think I've found something that Megatron would like to see."

XXXXXX

Back at the Nemesis, Megatron, Nightshade and Starscream stood around the golden disk that floating inside stasis field. Diagnostic scans ran over every inch of it, recording the symbols and deciphering it in the computer under Knockout's supervision.

"Are you sure it's not of Terran origin, Knockout?" Megatron asked, not taking his eyes off the disk.

"I am 100 percent positive, my lord. The disk is made of a gold alloy similar to the metal found on this planet, but its composition shows that it's been made using a highly advanced process that no human on this planet is capable of performing." Knockout explained. "This isn't just some relic. There's data on here, and it's alien."

"Another worthless piece of junk." Starscream spat. "You should've chosen a Seagull as your beast mode, Nightshade if all you're going to bring back is trash."

"Shut your mouth you second rate Skyspawn!" She hissed.

"Enough." Megatron growled, silencing them. "Nightshade, did you find anything that might pertain to where this disk came from?"

Nightshade shook her head. "No, there was nothing else in the cave. I had Search do a full environment scan and everything. All I found was the disk."

Starscream scrunched his face up, studying the symbols. "We don't have time to be playing xenolinguists, we need to be focusing on finding more energon. We're still running low and we haven't found any sufficient deposits that can hold us."

"Maybe if you spent less time strutting around the ship like you're Megatronus himself, and spent more time actually looking for energon, we'd be in a better position right now." Megatron growled at him. He turned to Knockout. "Has the computer finished translating the data yet?"

Knockout checked the readings and hummed. "Some of it, my lord. Apparently there is quite a lot of data hidden on this disk."

"Well, what do we have now?" Nightshade questioned.

"It looks like these are coordinates." He told them. Starscream perked up at that.

"Coordinates? To what?"

Knockout shrugged. "Not a clue. There isn't much info to go on considering all of it is in alien lingo."

"That's not good enough, Knockout!" Starscream hissed, stomping towards the medic. He tried to assert his dominance over the Knockout, but he didn't even look worried. "Whatever is on that disk could spell out victory. So I suggest that you translate faster!"

"Starscream!" Megatron bellowed, making Starscream flinch. "You would do well to remember that I give the orders around here, not you."

"Y-yes, Megatron, I understand." Starscream stammered and cleared his throat. "I shall go to these coordinates and investigate the location."

"And I will go with you," Nightshade added. She smirked at Starscream's barely concealed displeasure. "As a beast, my senses are more acute than yours. It will make the search go much faster."

"If you say so." He replied through gritted teeth.

Megatron snorted at the display. Things would go much smoother around the ship if his people weren't trying to usurp each other like they were a bunch of animals. This was a warship, not the animal kingdom.

"Nightshade, Starscream," He said. "Take Flamewar and Blackout with you for back up in case things go wrong. Be on your guard, we don't know what we're dealing with here."

"You have nothing to worry about, Megatron. We will be on our…best guard." Nightshade said, giving Starscream a side glance.

"We certainly will be." Starscream added, glaring daggers at her.

XXXXX

Nightshade, Starscream and their team went to the given coordinates, which was somewhere in Azteca, deep within the Amazon rainforest. With searching from the air out of the question given the lack of visibility from the air, they had to walk it on foot. Flamewar's tracking abilities came in handy here, as she led them through the forest without incident. Blackout idly noted that she was good at navigating around the wilderness.

"Of course I am," She said, as if she expected him to be a bit impressed with her skills. It was only natural that he be amazed. "I'm a huntress, dear. Most of the creatures I've hunted tend to use nature to hide themselves from me, but a few trees and caves are not enough protection from me."

"Such a humble femme you are." Grid, Starscream's Minicon partner, muttered. He cursed when another bug flew in front of his face. "No wonder people loved you so much with a kind heart like that."

"Watch it, little one. Most of the prey I've hunted are no bigger than you." Flamewar warned.

"Ha! If that's the case, then you aren't a true huntress. Just one who likes to talk big and flaunt her tiny trophies around." Starscream laughed and shook his head. "What a waste of talent."

"Would you two shut up? We need to be focused here." Nightshade said. Starscream saw that her faux feathers were ruffled, looking anything but their usual sleek, smooth coating that she maintained.

"You're looking a bit frazzled. Something wrong?" He asked, secretly loving her discomfort.

"I'm not liking this place. Ever since we've arrived, there hasn't been any sign of any wildlife. Not birds, no predators, not even insects." She said, narrowing her eyes. "Just silence."

Not that she mentioned it, the others did realize the eerie silence that permeated the usually noisy rainforest. For a place that harbored almost 30 percent of Terra's animal population, the only sound they heard was that of the wind blowing through the trees and the sound of thunder in the distance. Blackout powered up his concussion cannon and told Cannon to get ready to powerlink at a moment's notice.

After half an hour of walking through the thick vegetation, and listening to Starscream's incessant grumbling about burning the rainforest to the ground after they conquer this world, they reached their destination-the remains of a Meruvian city. It was larger than what humans had discovered in their explorations of the region, and it looked more like an ancient metropolis than any old city within the Meru Empire that spanned all of Azteca's jungles. But the city itself wasn't what the coordinates dictated, it was something inside.

They entered the city, which looked in better condition than most ancient cities in the Amazon, despite the plants that had slowly reclaimed this area for themselves. Nightshade took notice of the tall statues that dotted the cityscape-goliaths depicting a fearsome warrior with a round shield and a broadsword that looked nothing like the weapons that the Meruvian warriors used.

"Nice place they have here." Flamewar commented. "Think they have anything useful we can steal?"

"It's a human city, Flamewar, of course they don't have anything." Starscream replied. "Just keep an eye on those statues. I've had enough of those accursed golems hiding in plain sight."

"For once, I agree with you on that." Nightshade said.

They walked all the way from the outskirts of the city to the center, but not at the pyramid that was once the site of various religious ceremonies, namely sacrifices, but at the structure that was just a few feet from it. Sitting at their coordinates was a large dome, one almost the size of the pyramid itself, that was made of gold and covered in symbols similar to the one found on the disk. Flamewar hummed in appreciation at the simple yet fancy décor of the structure.

"This looks like the place alright." She said.

"So we came all this way for a dusty old building?" Starscream glared at the dome as if it had insulted him, which in his mind probably did. "What a waste of time."

"No one cares if you're frustrated, Starscream. This place is clearly important if that disk speaks of it." Blackout said. "Your orders, Nightshade?"

Nightshade studied the symbols carved into the metal of the dome. This was not made by humans, and it was probably put here long after the city was abandoned. Without warning, she fired a blast from her railgun and watched as it hit the dome dead center, only to leave a slightly dirty spot where it impacted the dome.

"That crosses out getting in." She muttered.

"I'm pretty sure that Megatron wants this thing in one piece Nightshade." Flamewar said, fingering her crossbow.

"He won't mind if it's scratched up. Whatever this thing is." Nightshade replied and walked closer to the dome. She leaned forward and ran a sharp finger over one of the symbols.

She regretted doing that almost immediately as the minute her finger touched the gold alloy, the symbols started to glow brightly. Nightshade stepped back and went on her guard, but a glowing white hand took hold of her arm and pulled her forward. The other Cons tried to reach her, but Nightshade was pulled into the dome too fast for them to react, her body phasing through the surface like it was water. Blackout tried to run after her, but the dome became solid again just as he reached it. He punched the dome and even fired his artillery cannon at it, but nothing could pierce the metal.

"Nightshade!" Blackout called out. Flamewar looked at the scene in shock.

"What the hell just happened?" She asked, trying to make sense of what she just saw.

"I don't know, but we need to call this in." Blackout said. "Nightshade might be in trouble!"

Starscream just stood there shell shocked at how fast things went. He wasn't concerned with telling Megatron, or trying to rescue Nightshade. Hell he would've been jumping for joy if she was dead and out of his crosswires. But he was concerned about one thing that he immediately entered his mind when everything went down.

"Megatron is going to kill me."

XXXXXX

Over the past few days, Optimus had Teletran-1 monitoring global news networks and the internet for anything unusual happening in the world. The other Autobots had no idea what he was looking for, and neither did Prime himself, but he remained alert 24/7. If he wasn't doing that, he was monitoring the progress of the planetary alignment, which was just a few hours away now. Only those who knew him well like Jazz, Ironhide and Ratchet figured that the Matrix he held within his chest cavity was driving him up the walls. They didn't know what it did to alert Optimus to all these metaphysical threats, but it had to be irritating if it had a usually calm bot like Optimus driving up the walls.

"Optimus," Sparkplug walked into the command center and saw the Prime still at the terminal. "Please, you need to rest."

"I can't Sparkplug. Not today." Optimus said, not taking his eyes off the screen.

"You aren't doing anyone any favors by running yourself ragged." The Micron leader said. "You need to take ten, Optimus. You're starting to stress the others out. I think you almost gave Liftor a nervous breakdown with all your pacing."

Optimus sighed and rubbed his eyes, turning to Sparkplug with a weary expression. "I'm sorry. It's just that with everything happening all at once, I've been a bit…"

"Scatterbrained?" His little yellow friend supplied helpfully.

Optimus chuckled. "Yes, that."

"Come and have some energon with me. Ironhide just replaced the tank an hour ago so it might taste good for once."

"One can only hope."

But before they could leave the room, the computer started to beep. " **Alert, alert: encoded message detected."**

Holding back a sigh, Optimus turned back to Teletran-1. "From who, Teletran?"

" **Megatron of Tarn."**

"Megatron?" Sparkplug looked at Optimus in surprise. "What does he want?"

Optimus read the message over and narrowed his eyes. It wasn't too long, just short and straight to the point, just like the Decepticon leader himself. "He wants to meet me in person to discuss a matter of great importance."

"Alone?"

"No. I can bring along one other bot, and he will do the same."

"To quote the humans, this sounds fishy. Tell Megatron to frag off, Optimus. I don't trust him." Sparkplug muttered, rubbing his chin. He looked up and saw the look of contemplation on Prime's face. "Don't tell me you're actually going to see the guy!"

"Megatron hates me with a passion, Sparkplug, and the only time we've talked is when we've battled in the past. He wouldn't request a chat like this if something happened that scared him enough to come to us for help."

"You're reading too much into this." Sparkplug accused. Optimus didn't deny that.

"Perhaps, but I must see what he wants." He said. "It could affect us as well and I'd be a fool to just ignore that possible threat."

Optimus read the details of the meeting, where to go and at what time. He knew this was risky, but he couldn't shake the feeling that this had dealt with something bigger than their skirmishes on this planet. He only hoped that he was right in that regard.

XXXXX

The meeting place was set in the rice fields in a Xingese province, Yu Dao. A ground bridge opened up in the thick mists and Optimus and Ironhide stepped out, their weapons ready, but not poised to shoot. It was early morning, and unlike Delpoi, the weather was humid and warm. The sunlight trying to pierce the heavy mists made the scene look serene, and Optimus had to admire Megatron's choice in scenery.

"I don't like this, Prime. This place is just perfect for an ambush." Ironhide said, keeping his cannons raised.

"So you keep reminding me, Ironhide." Optimus said briskly. Ironhide had practically strongarmed his way into letting Optimus take him along.

"And so I will keep saying until it gets through your thick skull!" Ironhide yelled. "This is a trap and we're walking right into it!"

"I'm afraid it is much worse than that Autobot."

Optimus and Ironhide saw Megatron and Soundwave walk out of the mists. The Decepticon leader kept walking until he was just 2 feet from his long time nemesis, with Soundwave hanging back another 2 feet. He was unconcerned with Ironhide pointing his cannons at his face.

"All right, Megatron, we came just like you asked." Ironhide growled. "Now what do you want?"

Megatron looked at the red Autobot like he was dirt on the bottom of his foot. "Optimus, you could've at least had the courtesy of muzzling your attack dog. His barking is grating on my nerves."

Optimus kept Ironhide from lunging at Megatron with a firm hand on his friend's shoulder. "Get to the point, Megatron. Why are we here?"

"I'm here to propose a truce." Megatron said.

Optimus blinked, not sure if he was hearing things right. Ironhide looked just as surprised as he was, forgetting his earlier rage. "Excuse me?"

"A truce, Prime. A temporary one," Megatron went on. "At least until we can defeat our shared enemy."

"The angels." Optimus knew what he was talking about.

"Yes. You've seen what awesome power these beings have at their command, and know just how far they're willing to go to destroy us. I want to wipe these things out before they do the same to us."

"So you've had an encounter with them."

"Not recently, but I have stumbled upon a possible structure of there is that I think might be of use to us, although our attempts to penetrate it have been ineffective so far." Megatron explained. "I want to know whether this is a possible Cardinal resting place like the one on the floating island, and being an expert on all things spiritual, I figured that you were the mech I should call."

Optimus crossed his arms. "And how long do you think a truce between us will last?"

"Only as long as it's mutually beneficial. It wouldn't bode well for our respective armies if we were to perish at the hands of an alien force, would it?" Megatron smirked. "After fighting that last Cardinal, I am not privy to fighting another one, so I'm not taking any chances. We will work together just for this one occasion, then if there is no threat, we can go back to trying to kill each other."

"Prime, you're not actually gonna agree to this, are ya?"

"Ironhide, you've seen how dangerous these creatures are. If this has something to do with them, then it is worth investigating." Optimus turned to Megatron. "Very well, Megatron. You have a truce. But if you betray us, not even Knockout will be able to put you back together."

Megatron snorted and smiled. "Noted."

XXXXXX

It was a hassle explaining this to the other Autobots. They all protested this decision to work with Megatron, especially Prowl, who had thrown a flurry of probabilities at Optimus at how many ways this truce could go wrong. Jazz, though as suspicious as everyone else, understood the situation and agreed with Optimus without question. This wasn't just about their war any more, everyone's survival was at stake.

The operation itself was handled carefully. Optimus had Prowl and Wheeljack accompany him to the coordinates Megatron supplied. They took a ground bridge to the very heart of the Amazon jungle, and followed the directions to the ancient Meruvian city that they were told about. Optimus and his team were on guard, but he ordered them not to fire a shot unless fired upon. It didn't take them long to find the golden dome near the temple. Megatron and Starscream were there as well, with Soundwave running scans on it.

"Where's Nightshade?" Prowl asked. "She's always hanging over you like a shadow."

"Nightshade is preoccupied," Starscream said, stepping forward. "I have been chosen to stand by Megatron's side while she's out playing golden retriever."

Soundwave slowly turned his head and eyed their weapons. "Lower your weapons. We are not here to fight."

"Forgive me if I find it hard to believe." Prowl said.

"Stand down, Prowl." Optimus walked up to Megatron and looked up at the dome. "So this is the structure you were talking about?"

"Yes. Looks impressive, isn't it? Which means that it wasn't made by human hands." Megatron pointed at the gemstones and bits of stone embedded in the dome's metal. "Soundwave, give me a sit-rep."

"The gems in the metal are of the same composition as the crystals that compose the angels' bodies. This dome is one of their creations." Soundwave reported. "I have detected no visible entrances, and I detect that it extended underground as well, barring any entry point from underneath it."

"Then you haven't had any luck in gaining entry." Wheeljack hummed, tapping his finger against the dome. Meanwhile, he was also recording as many of the symbols as he could.

"Have you tried doing it the old fashioned way?" Prowl asked, still fingering the trigger on his blaster.

Megatron gave him a look and fired his fusion cannon at the dome. To the Autobots' surprise, the beam was diffused the minute it touched the gold. "Does that answer your question?"

Optimus narrowed his eyes and lightly touched his chest as he felt the Matrix start to hum within his body. He stepped forward, cautiously, careful of triggering anything that might look like a weapon or some hidden compartment. These things reacted strongly to the Matrix's energy and he didn't want to escalate the situation. He reached the dome and, with some urging from the Matrix, placed his hand on the smooth surface.

Just like with Nightshade, his contact with the dome caused a reaction, but this was different. Not only did the symbols start to glow like before, but the entire dome began to tremble, and Optimus doubled over in pain.

"Optimus, what's wrong?" Wheeljack asked.

"The Matrix…" Optimus grunted, his voice tinged with pain as the sacred object glowed brilliantly within his chest. "It's…gah!"

The violent reaction of the otherwise dormant Matrix had lit the powder keg on the whole scene. The dome glowed even brighter than before, lighting up the dark forest like a miniature sun. optimus stumbled back as the Matrix started to burn and then something else happened to make things worse. An opening appeared in front of him on the side of the dome, a doorway emitting a blinding light. From it extended four arms composed of solid light that grabbed hold of Optimus.

"Optimus!" Prowl ran forward and fired his blaster, but the laser bolts bounced off the arms. He tried to hit them with his batons, but an arm punched him in the chest, denting his chest plate and knocking him onto his back. Even Megatron tried to shoot them down, but they deflected his blasts with relative ease.

"What is this?" Megatron muttered in shock.

Optimus continued to struggle against the strong hold the hands had on him, but with his body in pain, he couldn't do much else than flail around in their hold. Inevitably, he was pulled into the dome and the opening closed behind him, leaving behind smooth gold once more.

"Optimus!" Prowl fired at the dome, but his blasts had no effect. Then he turned his gun on Megatron, forcing Soundwave and Starscream to point their weapons at him. "I knew it was a trap! This is exactly something you would do!"

"Quit your whining! This is not my doing," Megatron said. "The same thing happened to Nightshade."

"Nightshade? But I thought…" Wheeljack trailed off as he realized just what that meant. "You came here before and screwed something up that got Nightshade captured."

"It was her fault for touching the damn thing. If she stayed behind, we wouldn't be in this mess." Starscream hissed. "We thought Prime's Matrix could get our esteemed lieutenant out of there, given how it always seems to know when to shed some light on the situation but as you can see that did absolutely slag all."

"I figured this whole truce was just another way to help yourself." Prowl circled around Megatron. "Even when there's a third party trying to kill all of us, you're still trying to win this war."

"Don't act like you're any different. Don't think I don't know about the infamous Praxian tactician with a penchant for putting logic before emotions." Megatron sneered. "Now put that gun away before I tear it off you with your arm!"

"You can try!"

Soundwave noticed something going on in front of the dome. "Megatron, something is happening with the dome."

It took there arguing Bots and Cons a moment to realize that the dome had yet to stop glowing and it was giving off a low frequency hum that sounded like a deep voiced choir singing on a low note. The ground before the dome cracked and fractured before a large body burst from the ground in a shower of stone. It climbed out of the hole it made and stood to its full height, towering over most of the bots except for Megatron.

The creature was another angel. This being was clad in bright red and gold armor from head to toe, with a humanoid upper body, and a bolvine lower body, which was also covered in armor. In its hands was a large golden broadsword and a red shield with gold highlights that was almost as big as its chest. The angel, or whatever it was, was as tall as Megatron it's bird-like head reaching just a few inches over the warlord's helmeted brain case. It stomped towards the Cybertronians on armored hooves and fashioned it's sword.

"I am Ardor, servant of Her grace and proud warrior of this land." He raised his sword and pointed it at Megatron. "You are not welcome here, false gods. For your blasphemous actions against the hierarchy of Laguna, I shall smite you in Her name."

Megatron grinned and drew his sword. "I welcome a good distraction."

XXXXXX

Optimus considered it a great honor to be chosen by the Matrix to be its bearer. It was something that only a handful got to enjoy in the entire span of Cybertron's history. But on rare occasions when the Matrix pulled stunts like this that he couldn't help but curse it. He could deal with abstract visions as long as it didn't involve him having a seizure.

The first thing he saw upon waking up was the glowing floor under his face. He was lying face down inside the dome, and the floor, which seemed to be made of diamonds, glowed underneath him. Sitting up, he looked around at his surroundings. Aside from the floor, he could see nothing but darkness as far as the eye can see. It was like he was in the middle of the void, drifting in outer space without the stars dotting the stellar horizon. The silence that lingered in the area felt uncomfortable and Optimus didn't want to spend any more time than he already had in this place. But as his scanned the area, he caught sight of a black form lying on the floor next to him.

"Nightshade?" Optimus's voice echoed briefly in the silent void, but he ignored it as he crawled over to her and gently patted her face to wake her up. "Nightshade, wake up."

She groaned and her optics flickered online, briefly glancing around before her purple eyes focused on Optimus looming over her. Nightshade grimaced and pushed him away as she sat up.

"Of course the first thing I see before waking up in this hellhole is your face." She grumbled, rubbing her head. "Typical."

"Excuse me for not being Megatron." Optimus said and crossed his arms. "Now are you going to tell me what you're doing here?"

"Trying to figure out what this thing was, before it grabbed me for scratching it's paint." Nightshade said, then she smiled. "And I'm guessing that Megatron brought you along to have you reopen the dome to get me."

"I wouldn't put it past him." Optimus replied. "To think that he would take such a gamble to free you."

"Well if it makes you feel any better, you weren't much help at all." She looked around, ruffling her wings. "Why does it feel like we're being watched?"

"That's because we are."

Suddenly their hands and feet were restrained by hands sprouting from the diamond floor, holding them with enough strength to keep even Optimus's massive form still. They were lifted into the air, deeper into the darkness that was around them and the ground vanished, as if it was never there. When they were a fair distance from solid ground, a loud, booming voice spoke to them from the darkness.

" **So we meet at last, Optimus Prime."** It was a woman's voice, cold and regal. " **The one who leads the invasion on my world."**

"This world does not belong to you!" Optimus said defiantly. "It belongs to humanity, and you're no more an invader than we are."

"Before we get too deep into this Finder's Keeper's slag," Nightshade cut in. "Maybe the voice in my head can tell me who she is. Unless she wants us to play twenty questions?"

The mysterious voice didn't speak, and Nightshade thought that maybe she should've kept her mouth shut. Then, like a rising sun, a giant golden face appeared. It was a woman's face, similar to a human female's and displayed an otherworldly beauty that no mortal could ever be born with, but wore an elaborate headdress that enhanced her features. She looked down at Optimus and Nightshade like a goddess would a mortal-insignificant, feeble, and altogether weak. She treated them like she would any organic creature, like they were unworthy of even thinking of her name let alone see her face.

" **I am Jubileus,"** She declared. " **Mother of the Heavenly Spheres and the one true God. I am that I am."**

XXXXX

Megatron charged forward and swung his sword, which Ardor countered with his own. Their blades connected in a flash of sparks and Megatron was sent flying back a few feet. He gripped his arm as it vibrated wildly from that one strike it dealt him. Despite this, he grinned at the implications of this battle. He hated these things with a passion but damn if they didn't offer a great fight.

Ardor lunged at Megatron, but Soundwave and Starscream opened fire on him, hitting his tough armor with cannon shells and concussion blasts that pushed it back a bit. Ardor raised its shield and lifted its sword to block a strike from behind from Prowl's batons. Wheeljack cracks his energo-whip and wraps it around its neck, pulling as hard as he can to knock it off balance.

"Fools!" Ardor bellowed and lifted its hoof to kick Prowl in the chest. It spun around and swung it's sword at Wheeljack, who ducked under the lightning fast blade, and then ran at the two Cons.

"Kill it, kill it!" Starscream yelped. He switched to jet mode and fired three missiles at it, only to groan upon seeing his projectiles hit Ardor's shield with little effect. Soundwave fired a volley of rockets from his mini-rocket launcher and peppered the warrior's body with explosions, but still it kept charging at them.

"Rumble, Frenzy, deploy!" Soundwave deployed the Minicon twins from his chest cavity and jumped back.

Frenzy struck first, unleashing his sonic scream at Ardor to stop the armored warrior in its tracks. Rumble ran in close, flanking it so he could deliver a blow so devastating to its body that it would vaporize regular metal. But even under Frenzy's sonic assault, it still could move. Ardor forced its body to turn, swinging its sword in tandem with its body just as Rumble's arm flew at its chest. The blade sliced through Rumble's arm in one swing, severing his arm and throwing him off balance, long enough for Ardor to kick him into the ground.

Ardor's sword glowed as he turned to Frenzy and swung it in a horizontal arc, releasing an energy wave that blasted Frenzy into a building. Ardor was about to advance on the damaged Minicon but it quickly raised its shield to block the plasma beam Megatron fired at it. The beam that could tear a bot in half with one shot was diffused by the shield, sliding off it like water on glass.

"You attack me over and over again even though you know that it is futile." Ardor said, twirling its sword around. "I don't know if you creatures are brave, or stupid."

"How about both!" Wheeljack fired two shells from his shoulder cannons at Ardor's face. Both were shrapnel grenades and their detonation riddled its face with thousands of tiny razor sharp fragments that dug in deep into its helmet. Wheeljack grabbed hold of its shield arm with his whip and pulled as hard as he could.

But Ardor remained coherent, pulling its retrained arm back and forcing Wheeljack to fly towards it. With that same arm, it punched Wheeljack in the face hard enough to send the Autobot flying back nearly 20 feet until he hit a statue and knocked it over on top of him. Prowl disengaged to see if his partner was alright, and Ardor turned to the Decepticons.

"Now, who is next?" Ardor asked menacingly.

XXXXXX

The entity before them, Jubileus, sat before them like the sun, her eyes staring right into their souls as she were casting judgment upon them. As she said her name, more copies of her heads appeared in the darkness, some near, others so far they were tiny points of light. Soon the entire void was filled with her heads like a sea of stars, and they all looked at Optimus and Nightshade with that same piercing gaze. But only one of them spoke.

"So," Optimus said, trying to keep the fear out of his voice. This presence, her very aura felt oppressive, suffocating, but he did not show fear, and was glad to see Nightshade doing the same. "You are the one Fortitudo spoke of."

" **The Cardinals are my will given form. My sword with which I smite those who threaten my Law and bless those who uphold it. They are me in all but form."** Jubileus glared down at him with her blank eyes. " **To stand against them, is to stand against me."**

Optimus knew that trying to convince her that he meant no harm was near impossible. He didn't know what she was or where she came from, only that she was a powerful being who sought to kill his friends and destroy everything he cared about, and he wasn't going to let that happen.

"Whatever we did to anger you so, know that we did not mean to do it intentionally." He appeased to her. "Our arrival here was unplanned and we did not come here willingly."

" **And you will not leave here willing either,"** She said, her voice taking on a darker tone. **"I will not have false gods born of metal disrupt my Divine Plan for this world. Soon, Terra and the other worlds will join with us and enter Heaven alongside us, and there's nothing you gods can do."**

"We aren't gods damnit!" Nightshade shouted. "And neither are you, you freak!"

" **We are the gods of light and darkness, chaos and order, the people of the Oracle who have learned to harness the essence of life itself, Quintessence. With our power and might, we will achieve enlightenment and shed these forms to become even greater, and those who worship us shall share in that splendor. Those who refuse will be struck down."** Jubileus declared, her voice sounding like a bell chime. " **Who are you to defy the Word of God?"**

"You're insane," Optimus breathed. "You really believe yourself to be gods. Who are you to rule over these people? Who do you think you are to enforce you will upon others?"

" **We are the Dolems, gods who have conquered many worlds in our quest to seek Paradise. We have bent them to our will, and this world will be no exception. And you metal men shall be an example for those rebels who continue to fight us."**

'So Terra isn't the only planet they've invaded.' Nightshade thought, giving Prime a glance. "What do you mean by example?"

" **You can feel it, can't you Optimus? The alignment of the nine planets,"** Jubileus smiled. " **When the planets join as one, the Cardinals of the North and South will awaken and give you the punishment that you've avoided for too long. They will not stop until they have hunted your kind to the last pitiful soul."**

XXXXXX

"Wheeljack, you still functional?"

Wheeljack pushed the rocks off him and held his head. He hit the stone house head first and his brain module was ringing like a church bell. That punch didn't help either, Ardor's fist hit him like a wrecking ball.

"I still know my name if that's what you're asking." He grunted. Prowl helped him up and that looked over at the Cons.

Megatron was fighting Ardor with his sword now, trying to land a killing blow but kept being deflected at every turn but the angel's quick reflexes. With Megatron doing melee, Soundwave and Starscream were still shooting at it with their long range weapons, for all the good they were doing them. Missiles and energy blasts were chipping away at its armor, but for the most part, its shield took most of the damage. Whenever Megatron gave it a break in his assault pattern, Ardor would slash an energy blade at them to keep them at bay. Starscream was already grounded after he was hit in his wing and was now in robot mode firing his cannons.

"Any plans for taking that thing down?" Wheeljack asked. Prowl shushed him.

"I'm thinking." Prowl took a good look at Ardor's body. Like all armor, there had to be small seams near the joints for the wearer to move fluidly. He could see those very seams in its armor, but they were small and too well protected to fire lasers at them. That meant getting in close. Which was also a problem given that both sword and shield were dangerous at close range, speak not of its ungodly kicking ability. That just left one unconventional method…

"We're going to have to do hit and run maneuvers." Prowl said, lifting his electric batons. They were useless against that kind of armor, but aside from his blaster, it was all he had on hand.

"Prowl, you won't be able to get close without getting cut in half or punted across the city. You're going to need something with a little more kick to it." Wheeljack reached into one of his many hip compartments and pulled out fire tiny objects. He flicked his fingers and showed Prowl his secret weapon.

Prowl raised a ridge at Wheeljack's solution. "Ninja stars?"

If Wheeljack had a mouth, he could be grinning. "Exploding ninja stars. It was going to be a gift to Jazz, but I think he won't mind if we use them ahead of time."

Megatron and Ardor were still locked in combat, their blades ringing each time they hit each other and the ground littered with deep gouges from Ardor's golden sword hitting it whenever it missed a cut. Soundwave hopped on its back and fired two more rockets that blasted off the armor panels on its back, but he was thrown off and took a punch to his face that shattered his red visor. Starscream ran in and stabbed it right in its exposed point, sinking his bayonet deep into its tough, stony spine. Ardor roared in pain and backhanded the Seeker away, only for Megatron to use the distraction to leap at it and cut its shield arm off at the elbow. He grinned in satisfaction as the arm fell to the ground with its shield with a loud clang.

"Not so invincible now, are you?" Megatron taunted. "Where's you divine protection now?"

"Insolent fool!" Ardor hissed and swung at Megatron, who ducked under his blade. "Not even She can save you when I'm done with you all!"

Ardor swung his sword again and Megatron quickly grabbed the shield from the ground, which covered his entire body. The sword hit the shield and Megatron remained unharmed, though the blow sent him flying back across the courtyard. Ardor marched towards Megatron, its sword glowing as it prepared to fire another energy blade, when three pointed stars stabbed into its arm.

"Hmm?" Ardor only had a second to wonder what hit it when the stars exploded, blasting apart its armor and blowing chunks in its arm underneath. "Grah!"

Prowl ran around to Ardor's left, throwing three of his own stars with speed and accuracy that Jazz would be proud of. They embedded themselves into Ardor's shorter arm and in three seconds, the warrior was engulfed in another explosion that rattled the area. More armor was destroyed and it was even more wounded than before. But even as it was wounded, it was still able to throw an energy blade at Prowl, uprooting the ground beneath him and throwing him off his feet. Ardor slashed at Wheeljack, who also had to jump away to avoid getting cut in half.

"I am a soldier of God! You weapons cannot kill me!" Ardor roared. "No one can shatter the divine protection that Her grace has given me!"

"Just shut up already!" Megatron shouted.

Ardor had no time to react as a plasma beam tore into its back, sending it flying forward and crashing to the ground on its chest. Megatron walked over to the fallen warrior, his fusion cannon still smoking from that one shot. He saw that despite the direct hit, Ardor was still alive, if just barely. The beam had tore up most of Ardor's torso from the back, revealing the fascinating sight of crystalline veins and still pulsating glowing crystal heart, a smooth, round orb that emitted a faint glow. Megatron kicked it onto its back.

"What was that about divine protection?" Megatron sneered.

"I…my sacrifice will not be…in vain…" Ardor rasped. It was barely able to move its head. "She…will kill every last…one of you monsters…our glorious…"

"Go preach it to the choir." Megatron pointed his cannon at Ardor's head and fired a blast without pause, destroying its head and much of its upper torso. "Thank Primus that's over."

"You're welcome by the way." Wheeljack called out. At Prowl's glare he said, "What? Just wanted some recognition."

Megatron paid them no mind. He wasn't here for the Autobots, he was here for his captured second in command. Looking at the dome, he knew that conventional weapons couldn't break through it, not even his fusion cannon. Then he glanced at Ardor's golden sword, still clutched in his hand. Maybe an unconventional weapon might do the trick.

XXXXXX

"Cardinals?" Nightshade stared up at Jubileus' face with wide eyes. "You mean there are more of those things?"

" **The four Cardinals are born in the four corners of the world, resting within their domains until the promised day. But your presence on this planet has caused them to awaken before they were meant to, and so my hand is forced."** The goddess said. **"But they will do their duty to me, and that is ridding this world of your kind so that humanity will evolve untainted by your sin."**

"Why don't you do it yourself?" Optimus asked. He was getting tired of her divine chatter. He had dealt with people like her in the past, people who had caused so much misery because they were doing "God's will". "You are an all powerful being, snuffing us out should be no problem for you."

" **If I had my body, I'd do just that. But alas, I am but a shadow of my former self, and I must give this noble task to my Cardinals. They will awaken when the planets align and then hunt down your factions to annihilate them with the might of the Host itself."**

"You won't have us!" Nightshade screamed. "We will kill your precious Cardinals just like we did with the dragon."

" **So I will send more soldiers."** Jubileus replied easily. " **Our numbers are legion. You may fight and win a battle, but eventually you will fall. I will get what I want and that is for mankind to achieve their rightful place as holy spirits under my employ. But that can only come true when you machines are eradicated. Such is the combined will of the Dolems."**

Then she turned her attention to Optimus. " **But you, Optimus Prime, will live. You hold within you a relic with the same aura as our Oracle, and I intend to know why that is so!"**

'Does she mean the Matrix?' He thought. "What do you want with it?"

There was a loud rumble from outside and cracks started to form in the dome.

"What was that?" Nightshade asked.

"Our friends." Optimus smiled.

Outside, Megaton hefted Ardor's heavy sword onto his shoulder with Soundwave's help. Feeling the power flowing through it invigorated Megatron and he swung it again, releasing another energy wave that hit the damaged surface of the dome with a loud bang. The damage the dome was taking clearly effected both its defense systems and Jubileus herself, as evidenced by her projections vanishing with large groups. Optimus couldn't help but liken the scene to watching stars die in the distance.

" **So even in the face of God you still defy me** ," Jubileus was nonplussed by her fading apparitions. " **Never have I seen mortals as foolish as you are."**

"You'd be surprised how people act when you push them into a corner." Optimus remarked and flexed his limbs. With his strength, he destroyed the hands holding him and drew his axe. His spun in the air and shattered the hands retraining Nightshade setting her free.

As they both fell to the ground, Jubileus continued to taunt them. " **You will not be able to escape. Nothing happens on this world without me knowing."**

"Watch us." Nightshade shot back as she took out Gandiva and fired an hour, taking out the wall in one shot. They ran through the hole they made, though Optimus took one last look at Jubileus before leaving the dome.

Jubilees watched them run. She could've stopped them, but she had little power to hold them indefinitely. But others will do her work, carry out her wishes. She knew where they lived now, and she intended to strike them so hard that they'll never think of retaliating against her again. Killing them would be a mercy. Only by breaking them will the Dolems' success on this planet be assured. Salvation was within their grasp, they only needed to reach out and grab it.

" **You may run, Prime** ," She said as the last of her apparitions faded into the void, leaving only her head in the darkness. " **But I will find you, catch you, and bring you into my world of purifying light…"**

With that vow, her face slowly disappeared and the dome started to crumble to dust.

XXXXX

"Prime, you're alive!" Wheeljack exclaimed, patting Optimus on the shoulder. "Thank Primus you're all right, because I was starting to worry a little bit."

"Nice to see you have faith, Wheeljack." Prowl said dryly.

Nightshade walked over to Megatron, who nodded his head to her. She knew he was relieved to see her, though he didn't show it. She was one of the chosen few he trusted, and Nightshade was too great an asset to lose in this war. She was also happy to see a glint of relief in his eyes as well.

"Good to see you're still operational, Nightshade." Starscream said, waltzing up to her. "We all thought you had perished."

"You would think that, wouldn't you?" Nightshade sneered and turned to Megatron. "As much as I like to chat, we better get back to the Nemesis. We need to raise our defenses."

"For what?" Megatron asked. He saw the faint panic in her face and wondered what she had seen in that dome. "Who are you expecting an attack from? The Autobots?"

"No, something much worse."

"She's right Megatron." Optimus said. "These creatures, they call themselves the Dolems. Two Cardinals, each as powerful as Fortitudo, are about to awaken when the planets align and are set to head towards our respective bases."

"You lie! It took all of us just to fight that last beast, and now we have two on the way?" Starscream exclaimed. "We can't fight them on our own!"

"Try to grow a spine, Starscream. We don't have a choice!" Megatron growled. He turned to his archenemy. "What is this Prime? An uncoordinated attack on both our forces?"

"No," Optimus replied grimly. "It is a declaration of war."

XXXXXX

Sitting in the middle of the North and South poles were obelisks, pillars of black onyx, similar to the one on the floating island of Brigadoon. Their age, and how they came to be was known only to the frozen tundra that harbored them, for they have stood sentinel over their respective zones for millennia. No one knew they existed here, and no one would know what their presence entailed for the people of Terra at large.

In the vast expanse of outer space, the planets slowly drifted into their alignment. An event that happened once every ten thousand years, the planets of the Sol system; Mercury, Venus, Terra, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, all fell into perfect alignment. It was a sight to behold for astronomers and stargazers, but no human knew of its metaphysical impact on the obelisks on Terra.

The gravitational pull of all the planets combined surged through Terra, beginning and ending at the poles. The obelisks, which have sat in place undisturbed for longer than humankind's existence on this planet, began to glow. The ancient, inhuman symbols that layered their smooth surfaces were illuminated and started to crackle with energy. They began to vibrate, giving a low hum that reverberated throughout the thick ice. Both obelisks released a massive wave of energy that flowed through the earth, surging through the atmosphere and encompassing the planet from both sides. Of course, the humans never saw this energy, as it was invisible, but those certain individuals, most notably espers, felt something wash over them, like a pressure that fell over their bodies and made the world feel like they were walking underwater.

And deep within a secret compound in the Helic Republic, two generals looked to the sky, their eyes glowing a deep amber, and smiled at the sign. It was happening.

Once the entire world had been saturated in this energy wave, the obelisks exploded in brilliant flashes of light, and from the blast point, large monstrous forms emerged from the ice. The creature from the south pole crashed through the glaciers that held its body and jumped into the ocean, its large form moving through the water like a giant shark. The entity from the north rose high above the hole it created in its escape and floated over the icy plains of the Artic. Both creatures, separated by thousands of miles, move at the same time for different locations on the planet, ready to accomplish their missions.

The Cardinals have awakened and the storm has just begun.

* * *

 **Up next, the three-part finale-The Tempest!**


	34. The Tempest part 1

Chapter 34-The Tempest part 1

Things had gone from bad to worse when Optimus returned to the Ark and issued a Code: Red emergency. He ordered any teams out on missions to return immediately and waited in the command center for his Autobots to assemble before he explained the situation to them in a brief but detailed summary. He told them of the beings called the Dolems, their goals of interfering with humanity's evolution and their goddess's goal of annihilating all Cybertronians on the planet. Prowl also warned them of the coming threat of the Cardinal that was heading in their direction.

"Whoa, you mean we have another one of those freaky things heading out way?" Jetfire asked, his voice sounding a bit squeaky.

"Jubileus made it very clear that she will stop at nothing to destroy us." Optimus said. "Two Cardinals have already awakening following the planetary alignment. One is heading to the Ark and the other is heading to the Nemesis. It's an assault on two fronts to make sure that we aren't able to combine our forces like before."

"That explains the recent energy anomalies that occurred at the poles." Ratchet pointed out. "They happened just a few minutes before you got back."

"Then we don't have a nanosec to spare!" Ironhide said. "Wheeljack, can you get the Ark's defenses up and running?"

"What's not buried inside the mountain, yeah, it's still operational." Wheeljack nodded. "But they'll all be running on half power."

"What? Why?" The red Autobot growled. Wheeljack looked at his hands sheepishly.

"Well, I thought that with us being pressed for energon, some power could be diverted from the weapons array to the rest of the system, cut the load on our ship's power supply." He explained. "I rerouted power to the solar panels on the outer hull to increase storage capacity and energon production."

"Those were our only defenses you-"

"We don't have time for this Ironhide." Optimus cut in and placed a hand on Wheeljack's shoulder. "Wheeljack, can you divert the power back to the weapons systems to bring them up to full power?"

"Sure, it's no problem for me." The engineer nodded.

Optimus turned to Ratchet. "Ratchet, have Teletran run a global search for any strange anomalies that are heading our way. I want to locate that Cardinal before it's right on top of us."

"It'll be a stretch, but I'll do what I can." The medic got to work at the computer. Arcee and Bumblebee ran up to Optimus.

"Optimus, what about the children?" Arcee asked. "The weather outside is getting worse and I'm worried about them."

"The last thing I want is to bring the children anywhere near here with the Cardinal targeting the Ark. But…" Optimus had a nagging feeling in the back of his mind that told him that he should take the chance. He did notice that the weather was getting more violent as the day went on. "Take Bumblebee and Jolt with you to get them along with High Wire's team. I don't want any Autobot or Minicon outside this ship unprotected."

"Understood. Bee you're with me." Arcee said as she and Bumblebee ran out the room.

While Optimus was giving out orders, Prowl had something else in mind. He turned to Ratchet and got his attention. "Ratchet, I need you to do something for me."

"Prowl, I don't have the time to be doing any errands for you." The medic said but Prowl shook his head.

"No, it won't take you away from your work. I just want you to track the other Dolem heading for the Nemesis when you finally locate them." Prowl requested. Ratchet turned around and gave Prowl a look

"Why would I do that? We have enough on our plate trying to find that one trying to slag us!"

"If we track the second Cardinal, then it will lead us to the Nemesis' location." Prowl reasoned.

"Prowl, we're on the verge of being invaded. The Decepticons are the least of our worries."

"They are always at the forefront of our worries, they're the reason we're on this planet to begin with. Don't forget that we're fighting a war here, Ratchet, not lounging around on an exploration mission. Most of you seemed to have forgotten that little fact." Prowl whispered harshly. He spun Ratchet around and pointed at the screen. "This is our only chance to find the location of their base, and the Cardinal is the key. This is a simple task that will only require you being vigilant. We can worry about the information later."

Ratchet was surprised by Prowl's unshaken resolve to get an advantage on the Decepticons. For all his level-headed stoic attitude, Prowl had an almost zealous need to win against the Cons in any way possible, even when something else of greater importance as happening. He also knew that Prowl did things under Optimus's nose some of the time, not out of insubordination but because he thought that Prime couldn't handle what he knew.

"I assume that Optimus doesn't know about your plan?" Ratchet asked.

Prowl frowned. "I will tell him later, Ratchet, but I need to know if you can do this for me."

Ratchet sighed and pushed Prowl's hand away. "I will do it Prowl, for future reference if nothing else. But don't hold your breath if I don't find anything. Now if you will kindly let me do my work."

"Right, thank you Ratchet." Prowl said and walked out of the room.

Ratchet shook his head and got back to work on locating the Cardinals. He knew that Prowl's need to take the Cons out was somewhat personal, given his home, Praxus, had been leveled during the War for Cybertron. He knew Prowl wasn't one to let his emotions get in the way of duty, but his almost condescending attitude of those who don't keep their eye on the prize is something that needed to be taken care of. Prowl may be an Autobot, but his true loyalties lied with the logic that ran his life.

XXXXXX

"This is dull."

Annie said it in passing a few minutes ago, and Darren found himself agreeing with her. They were sitting in the auditorium with the rest of the children from their grade and higher. As it turns out, the weather had evolved from a light rainfall to a surprise hurricane, with winds blowing so violently that some trees were uprooted. It got worse when all the windows on the third floor classrooms were shattered, injuring some of the students and that's when the teachers started to move the students downstairs. Parents were called and one by one the students were hurriedly taken home.

"Would be nice if mom came to get us by now," Annie drawled out of boredom. "Too bad she's dead."

"Annie, that's not funny." Gina scolded. Ever since the Jezebel incident, Annie had developed a macabre sense of humor that no one particularly liked. Maybe it was her way of coping with the incident, but she needed to know that there is no time or place for inappropriate jokes like that.

"Oh come on, you know you wanna laugh." Annie smiled cutely. Gina flicked her nose and Darren rolled his eyes and listened to the other kids talking about the storm.

"I heard there was a hurricane passing over us."

"A hurricane? No one ever said anything about a hurricane!"

"I just heard from our gym teacher that it's happening all over the country. Whatever this is, it's no normal storm."

"I hope my mom will be alright getting here. Three people already had accidents in this hour alone trying to drive through this storm."

Gina bit her lip and tapped her foot to ignore the muttering children around her. She hated being stuck in situations like this, where she couldn't do anything and that big brain of hers was basically useless. Though, she shouldn't be surprised, given that few things can stop Mother Nature, and man was not one of them.

"Hey," Darren gripped her hand. "You doing alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Just a bit anxious, that's all." Gina took a deep breath to calm herself. "I don't want my mom to drive in that mess outside for me. I can only imagine what it's like out there now."

"Where's Kevin and Penny? I don't see them anywhere." Annie said.

"Penny's dad picked her up as soon as the storm started, and Kevin's aunt did the same not long after that." Darren said.

A loud thunderclap made everyone flinch. "Do you think Debbie will be able to pick us up?" Gina asked.

"I'm sure she will. I'm more worried about High Wire and Sureshock. I doubt they're having a great time out there." He replied.

"Darren, Annie, Gina!" Someone called out.

The kids turned to see Debbie walking down the isle towards them. They grabbed their things and got up to meet her. When they got close, Debbie pulled them all into a big hug.

"It's good to see that you're okay. I'm sorry I'm late, but I had to drive slow with the streets as wet as they are." She said. "Get your coats on, I'm taking you three back home."

"But what about my mom?" Gina asked.

"Don't worry, she gave me a call earlier that she won't be able to make it in this weather and I said that I'd pick you up for her. Looks like you're staying with us for the night." Debbie smiled.

"Sweet, you're sleeping over!" Annie cheered and threw an arm around her friend's shoulders. "You get to share the same bed as Darren! His room is spacey so it shouldn't be a tight squeeze for you."

Gina gulped and elbowed Annie in the ribs with a huge blush on her cheeks.

"Annie, behave." Darren said before turning to his sister. "Now can we leave before we get stuck here to?"

"Sure, let's go."

The kids go their coats on and quickly made their way through the school towards the side exit near the parking lot. As soon as they made it outside, after struggling to push the door open with the strong winds pushing against it, they were greeted with the chaotic sight of heavy rains pouring down, lightning flashing in the sky and hurricane force winds blowing so hard that the trees were starting to bend. Annie yelped as she was almost blown over by a huge gust of wind.

"I didn't know there was going to be a breeze today!" She yelled over the winds.

"Not now, Annie!" Gina replied as she helped the girl along.

It took them about a minute to push themselves against the violent winds until they reached Debbie's car. The elder Radcliffe unlocked the care and ushered the kids inside before getting into the car herself. As she switched the heater on and started the car, Darren noticed the lack of their Minicon guardians.

"Where are High Wire and the others?" Annie asked, wincing as she felt water hit the bandages on her hand.

"Ratchet gave me a call and said that he bridged them out a few minutes ago." Debbie answered as she drove out of the parking lot. "He told me that Arcee and Bumblebee are on their way."

"Okay. And we're leaving the school because…?" Annie trailed off.

"Because if we stay, then the weather is only going to get worse and then we'll all be stranded. And I'm sure that none of us want to spend the night inside a school." She smiled when she saw her younger siblings shake their heads vigorously. "Good. I can get us back home so long as I'm careful."

Darren nodded and looked out the window. They were driving through the downtown area, which was usually crowded around this time, but today it was completely empty. He had noticed that the weather had been getting worse as the weak went on, but with everything that's happened, he didn't pay it any attention until now. But he never thought that things would get as bad as this. Dakote never had storms this bad, and the weather only made his headache worse.

"You feeling okay bro?" Annie asked when she saw Darren rub his forehead.

"I'm fine. It's just that I feel…strange. Like my mind's foggy and everything feels muffled." Darren said. It wasn't painful, just weird. He didn't put any thought into it until he heard Kevin and a few other kids, mostly the social outcasts, were going through the same thing. It put his danger senses on alert and he was waiting for something bad to happen, like Barricade chasing them through the streets or something. "I don't know, maybe I'm imaging it."

Gina and Annie shared a glance, but they didn't say anything. "Nothing" was a word that had little meaning in their crazy lives, but they didn't comment on it now.

Debbie drove them out of the downtown area and across the bridge over the river that connected to the residential area. Here, Debbie drove a bit slower to keep the car from spinning out of control. With the roads as wet as they are, the wheels had no traction and an accident here could be bad news for them. They made it about half way before something that should've been impossible-lightning struck twice.

A lightning bolt hit the ground in front of the car, and it took Debbie by surprise. She swerved a bit to avoid the hole in the road, but started to lose control when the car began to skid across the bridge. Debbie gripped the wheel and tried every trick in the book to regain control and for a moment, she did, righting the car on a straight path again. But another bolt, this one more accurate, hit the front of the car dead center, destroying the engine and sending the car into another spiral that sent them crashing into one of the support cables. The cable snapped and half of the car tipped over the edge, balancing on its axel like a dangerous see-saw with the front of the car facing the rushing waters down below.

Debbie held her breath and didn't take another until she heard the groaning of the car stop and felt the car stop swaying for the moment. She let out a shaky breath and turned to the kids. "I-is everyone okay?"

"I'm fine." Annie breathed, her heart pounding noisily in her chest. "Gina, Darren, you good?"

"We're in one piece, but Darren got cut over his eye." Gina said, pressing a tissue into Darren's right eyebrow. They jumped a bit when the car started to sway again. "We're stuck, aren't we?"

"We are," Debbie admitted. "But so long as nothing pushes us too hard, we should be alright."

"With the wind blowing this hard? That's suicide." Annie looked out the window and cursed when she saw that there was no solid ground on her side. "All in favor of bailing out?"

"Annie, we can't jump out!" Darren said. "If we move, we fall over."

"If we wait, we fall over. There's nothing else we can do." She replied.

"Annie's right. If she and Debbie get out first and try to get off the car, then we get out after them, we can avoid getting caught in the car when it falls." Gina said. "We just need to move carefully and-ah!"

Lightning struck the cables and then hit the ground near the car. It blasted away the stone holding them up and the weak support keeping them from falling started to fail. Debbie panicked and tried to get the car in reverse, but with the rear wheels off the ground they weren't moving anywhere but down. When she saw the river below them, Debbie screamed. They were going to fall!

Suddenly they heard a car horn sound and the pink and yellow forms of Arcee and Bumblebee came driving at full speed down the street onto the bridge. Sara jumped out of Bumblebee as he transformed and rushed over to the car, grabbing the trunk and keeping it from falling over. He growled and tried to remain steady when he felt his feet slipping on the wet ground.

"Cee, get them!" He grunted.

Arcee jumped over the side and gripped the ledge with one hand as she tore open the door on Darren's side. Reaching out with her free hand, she helped Darren climb onto her arm and onto her back. She helped Gina out as well just as the car gave another lurch and she heard Bumblebee yelp when another lightning bolt hit the ground near his foot.

"Hold it steady, Bee!" She yelled.

"I'm trying, but I don't have much ground to stand on!" He said. The car's weight was pulling him along for the ride and the girls were still in the front of the war.

Sara jumped onto the car and climbed over to Annie's side when Arcee deposited Darren and Gina onto the bridge. The green haired android ripped open the door and took Annie into her arms, slowly climbing back onto the bridge. Arcee leaned down and held out her hand as Debbie slowly got out of the car, trying to reach Arcee's hand.

"Come on, you can do it!" Arcee urged her. But she froze when Bumblebee's foot slipped on a crack and the car fell from his grip. Debbie, who was holding onto the car door, lost her balance and fell off the car. "No!"

"Debbie!" Annie cried out.

Debbie screamed as she lost her hold on the car and felt gravity take its hold of her. She saw the horrified looks of her siblings and friends as she fell and she shut her eyes as she waited for death to take hold of her in the river's cold embrace. But when she didn't feel the icy cold waters hitting her, she cracked open her eyes and saw that she hadn't moved from her spot above the river. But she certainly saw her car whoosh past her and crash into the river below, hitting it with enough force to deform the car on impact. That was when she noticed she was floating in mid-air!

"Darren!" She heard Arcee exclaim.

Debbie looked up and saw Darren hanging over the edge, using the cable to keep himself up. His hand was glowing with silver wisps and he was staring at her intently. He was holding her in the air by himself! Debbie was honestly in shock when she felt herself being lifted slowly in the air towards Arcee's outstretched hand. She took hold of the Autobot's slender fingers when she was close enough and felt Darren's telekinetic hold on her fade.

Arcee pulled her back onto the bridge and put her down on solid ground, where she was grabbed into a hug by Darren and Annie. Debbie hugged them back just as tightly.

"I'm glad you alright." Darren muttered into her coat.

"I am now, thanks to you." Debbie said. "That was amazing. I didn't know you could do that."

"It was on reflex. I don't think I can do that again if I tried." He said sheepishly. Debbie looked up at the Autobots.

"Thank you two as well. You saved our lives." She said honestly.

"All in a day's work for us Autobots." Bumblebee said proudly.

"Except our work isn't done." Arcee sighed and turned to the humans. "Let's get you four back to the Ark. Things are a little bit tense as of late."

"How tense?" Annie asked.

"Sparkplug will explain the situation to you." Arcee went into car mode and opened her doors. "Now let's get moving before you all get sick in this weather."

XXXXXX

Megatron had spent the past hour on the Nemesis' bridge, watching the monitors nonstop for any new developments. He saw how the weather outside had evolved from a bright sunny day to a typhoon, watched how the calm and serene waters around his island became violent and brutal, like an animal gone berserk. He heard of human myths that likened violent waters like this to sea monsters and he could see why they would think that. Nature was an animal itself, one that cannot be tamed, merely altered. He heard Starscream and Flamewar enter the room.

"Lord Megatron, it's been an hour since you've returned and so far we've detected nothing approaching our position." Flamewar said. "I feel that this is a waste of time on our part. Why wait here twiddling our blasters when we could be out there looking for energon?"

"Because I said so, Flamewar. Nightshade has informed me of an attack directed at this island and I am not taking chances with this one." Megatron said, not looking at her. "Nightshade has yet to fail me, unlike you."

"On what basis does she make of this supposed threat? For all we know her mind could've been altered by these Dolems of hers. You know how powerful their mind abilities are." She continued.

"It's not a matter of how accurate her information is, it's how much I trust her, and I trust her more than I trust you." Megatron turned around and glared down at her. "Don't play games with me, Flamewar!"

"Come on, two wheeler," Starscream grabbed her arm and pulled her along. "Let's go before you get me slagged."

Flamewar wrenched her arm free and continued to poke the lion. "I'm just curious, my lord. We're preparing to fight an enemy we're not even sure is coming right now. For all we know this could be an Autobot truck. Nightshade isn't the most credible given that she has had her mind played with by those creatures in the past."

"And so have Starscream and myself. Are you saying that we're compromised as well?" Megatron asked, looming over her small form, and looking like he was about to rip her in half.

Flamewar's courage faltered as she stared into his red eyes. "No, my lord. I was just-"

"I know what you're trying to do, Flamewar. Plant seeds of doubt in my mind to slander Nightshade and bring her down, while you weasel your way into my good graces. Starscream has tried that before huntress, and failed miserably numerous times in the past."

"Sure, add insult to injury." Starscream huffed.

Megatron ignored him. "Let me make this perfectly clear to you. Try to uproot the order I have built upon this ship, try to cause a civil war amongst my ranks, and I will make you eat your own Spark core while I run your T-cog to exhaustion with my bare hands." He could do it. Knockout has ways of making cadavers dance.

"So you keep reminding me." Flamewar said, not looking away from his burning gaze.

"And I will keep reminding you until it gets through that thick cobalt skull of yours." Megatron turned back around to the monitors and waved her off. "Starscream, get your trash out of here."

"Right away, Megatron!" Starscream grabbed Flamewar's arms and pulled her out of the room. "Come along, little huntress, you've done enough damage for one day."

"Let go of me you plebian!" She shouted as the doors closed.

Megatron frowned as he saw them go. This little pissing contest between Nightshade and Flamewar is getting out of hand. He didn't interfere because he thought that it was amusing to see his normally stoic second in command get into low level cyber-cat fights with the fugitive huntress, but now that Flamewar was making power plays for her position, he had to be careful. Unlike Starscream, she knew how to be subtle and when to strike when her prey was at its weakest. There was no telling what she'd do to gain more influence…or get free.

"Leader-1," He turned to his Minicon manning the communication array with Soundwave. "Is everyone back on the ship?"

"Everyone save Blackout. I'll bring him up." Leader-1 switched the comm on. "Cannon, this is Leader-1. Tell your buddy to put it in gear. Megatron's getting impatient."

Out in the furious storm, blackout flew over the violent waves that reached hundreds of feet in the air. The Con wasn't too affected by the dangerous weather and heavy winds, he had been through worse. But he had to focus on avoiding some of the more dangerous elements like those freak lightning bolts or the rogue waves. Cannon, fully healed but still a bit mentally traumatized by Annie's torture session, was handling minor things like communications and navigations.

"Cram it crankcase, we're moving as fast as we can." Cannon said. "We've got energon weighing us down and if we move any faster, we'll drop it. Do you want to be responsible for that?"

" _Just get back to the island. Megatron wants all hands on deck in case we're attacked by something."_

Cannon snorted. "Like what? There's nothing out here but fish and stupid seaweed!"

As if to prove him wrong, a massive beast launched itself out of the water and leapt nearly 20 feet into the air. Cannon didn't see what it looked like, he only caught sight of the large jaws descending upon them. Blackout let out a curse and increased his propulsion, now moving at speeds no Terran helicopter could move at without being torn apart.

They were just barely able to escape the jaws, and got out of its reach just as its jaws snapped shut with a deafening clang of jagged teeth mashing against each other. Blackout spun around just in time to see the creature's massive form dive back into the ocean, sending water flying everywhere. He could see its large form beneath the surface swimming in the general direction of Decepticon Island.

"Cannon, tell Megatron that we're found his mystery monster." Blackout ordered.

XXXXXX

Arcee and Bumblebee drove out of the ground bridge into the Ark's shuttle bay, where Sparkplug and the Street Action Team were waiting. As soon as the kids got out of the Bots' vehicle modes, their guardians were swarmed by their relieved guardian Minicons.

"We're so glad you're okay!" Sureshock said. "I'm sorry we weren't there for you. We were ordered to return to the Ark as soon as possible and were assured that you would all be safe."

"Who said that?" Darren asked.

"Prowl." High Wire answered. "He was very instant that we'd be bridged out now. We only went because he said that you'd be safe for the moment."

"So Prowl short-changed you all, what a surprise." Annie rolled her eyes.

"Ms. Gina and the others almost expired but we managed to make it to them in time." Sara said and walked up to Gina. She wordlessly pushed Sureshock aside and hugged the blonde woodenly, brushing their cheeks together. "I have been learning how to hug from Minicon Tracer. Is this an adequate hug, Ms. Gina?"

"Y-yes, Sara. You're doing fine." Gina laughed awkwardly.

Sparkplug walked over to Debbie. "Are you doing alright?"

"Yes, we're all fine and dandy. I am short one car though." Debbie sighed. At least they made it out with their lives. She hoped that the Bots could fish her car out of the river. Maybe Wheeljack can fix it? That'd be a great way to save money. "And the weather outside is getting worse. We were hit by three freak lightning bolts for Gaia's sake!"

"And I caught one in the leg." Bumblebee said, showing the scorched hole near his ankle.

"I'm afraid it's only going to get worse from here." Sparkplug said and looked up at Bumblebee and Arcee. "Optimus is waiting for you in command center."

"Roger that." Arcee nodded and patted the twins on the back before leaving the room with Bumblebee.

"What's going on?" Gina asked, seeing the tense look on Sparkplug's face.

"I'll tell you when we get you four dried up." He said. "But the gist of it is that this place is going to get really noisy soon."

Sparkplug led the group to the Minicon/human corner while Optimus was overseeing Wheeljack working on the Ark's weapons systems. It wasn't as hard as it seemed, as Wheeljack didn't have to do much to reroute power from the energon distillery to the still functioning laser emitters and missile launchers on the ship's starboard. But the question was if they'd need them in the first place. Will they let it get that far? Once he was sure that the humans were being taken care of by the Minicons, he made his way back to the command room, where Ratchet and Longarm were working hard.

""Give me a sit-rep." Optimus said.

"I think I may have found the Cardinals." Ratchet said and pointed at the monitor. "See these weather patterns near the poles? They've been gaining strength for the past hour as they moved at a fairly even pace. It looks normal, but not only did they appear out of nowhere and move at the same time, they are also moving against the wind currents."

"What the hell does that have to do with the Dolem trying to kill us?" Ironhide asked impatiently.

"Storm fronts don't move like that, Ironhide. They go where the wind takes them." Longarm said. "These aren't regular storms, they're the Dolems that we're looking for."

Ratchet pointed to the one moving through Alaska. "That's the one that's moving towards our direction. The Cardinal that's coming to kill us."

Jetfire looked at the screen in shock. "Hold up, you're telling me that the Cardinals are what's making the weather go crazy like this?"

"The entire western hemisphere from Azteca to Alaska is suffering from these abnormal weather patterns, storms hitting both continents with unnatural ferocity." Ratchet said seriously. "I'd say that they're causing the storm themselves."

"They're that powerful?" Bumblebee whispered in awe. "How are we going to fight something like that?"

"Please don't tell me we're going to wait for that thing to come to us." Bulkhead groaned.

"We're not waiting." Optimus said strongly. "Once we can pinpoint its location, I will go to the Cardinal myself and try to negotiate with it."

"You want to talk to it? Boss bot, that's straight up suicide, man." Jazz protested, along with the rest of the team.

"That thing will kill you on sight!" Ironhide said. "It's too dangerous."

"Autobots, if that Cardinal is the source of the storm, then it will cause severe damage to the area it passes through, and that includes the human settlements in its way. Lives are at stake here and the least I can do is stop it in its tracks before it can hurt anyone else."

"And what about the Decepticons? Will we be coming to their aid to?" Prowl asked.

Optimus glared at Prowl with such intensity that it almost made the tactician step back. He knew that Prowl was against any alliance with the people they were warring against, even if it meant that humans would die. Prowl wasn't heartless, but he could consider those lives lost as "acceptable losses" in the grand scheme of things in their war. Thousands of lives lost that were just another drop in the bucket for him. When you have large amounts of casualties, it's easy for one death to be just another number, and that makes it easier to cope with. But Optimus wasn't like that, and he wanted to make sure that Prowl realized that.

"The Decepticons are on their own." He said. "We won't be going to their aid, any time soon if that's what you're concerned about Prowl. Even though our combined forces would prove sufficient enough to handle the Cardinal's might." He wanted Prowl to know that even though they weren't teaming up with the Cons, he would do so if he had the chance to increase their chances of victory.

Seeing that tensions were reaching a critical point, Arcee stepped up. "Optimus, we all know that you want to avoid a battle at all costs, but what if things go south while you're in the field?"

"Don't worry. You will all be on standby in case I am attacked. Even I am not foolhardy enough to fight a Cardinal on my own." Optimus said this to everyone, but his gaze was on Prowl as he did so. Seeing that he made his point, Optimus walked past his lieutenant down the hall.

Jetfire nudged Jazz. "Is it just me, or do those two acting a bit frosty towards each other?"

"They always had some beef when it came to how to do things on the field. Let's just hope they keep it together long enough to make it through this." Jazz muttered, not sporting his usual jovial grin for once.

XXXXXX

"Are you sure, Blackout?" Megatron asked against after hearing Blackout's account on what happened.

" _Yes, my liege. I only caught a glimpse of the beast that attacked us, but I recognized that it was no organic creature."_ Blackout confirmed. " _It's the Cardinal."_

"So they really are coming to challenge us." Megatron frowned. Nightshade crossed her arms and glared at him.

"As I have already told you." She said.

"Forgive me if I don't take everything at face value like some people, Nightshade." Megatron said, meeting her glare with his own. "I like to have some credibility to claims like these without rushing head first into danger."

"Your orders Megatron?" Soundwave asked.

"First things first," Megatron said and grinned. "I'm going to talk to it."

The others looked at him like he had lost his senses. "Talk to it? A creature from the same ilk as that monster that almost slagged us at the floating island?" Starscream shook his head. "What for? To see what kind of metal it likes to eat?"

"I want to see the beast whose heart I'm going to tear out with my bare hands!"

Megatron didn't wait for a reply from his inner circle as he about faced and left the bridge. Nightshade ran to follow him and together they exited the ship via the launch bay, stepping out into the fierce storm that ravaged their once peaceful island. Nightshade went to beast mode and Megatron stepped onto her wings, riding her like a repulsor platform. She reconfigured her form into a more streamlined version of her beast mode that looked like a bird-shaped jet and used her thrusters to hover off the ground before flying into the air.

Despite Megatron's immense weight, it did little to affect Nightshade's speed in the air, though she was nowhere near as fast as she would be without him. They flew over the ocean, and stopped near the area Blackout had last reported seeing the beast heading towards. With all the rain and thunder, it was hard to see if the beast was even there or had long since passed by them, but Megatron wasn't turning back now. Not when there was some freak with a god complex trying to invade his territory!

"Come out beast! I know you're out there!" Megatron roared into the chaotic sea below him. "I know you can hear me! Face me like a true warrior!" When he got no response, he started to lose his temper. "I said come out. I want to see the face of the so-called god who dares to challenge me!"

" **You speak as if you are a being of legendary power, but you are, in reality, a king of a dying race."** A deep voice rumbled from everywhere and nowhere. " **You call yourself invincible, but death looms over you like a shadow. Let me show you your place."**

The water in front of them started to swirl and form a whirlpool, and from the churning waters emerged a beast not native to these waters. The Cardinal was a large four-legged beast with a slender torso clad in golden armor lining its ribs, and four long legs that had humanoid faces on the joints, with each leg ending in a massive four clawed foot. Its head was larger in proportion to its torso, and was little more than a giant golden head split open to reveal a wide mouth with jagged teeth that looked like huge shards of broken glass. On its back were golden wings that served no purpose for aerial flight at all, and a halo floated above its head.

"Hmph," Megatron grunted, unimpressed with what he saw. "You're an ugly fragger, aren't you?"

" **I am Sapientia, Cardinal of the south and devoted servant of our Lady Jubileus."** It said, it's voice sounding like an echoing male choir amplified to the tenth degree. " **By Her will, I shall smite you!"**

"You can certainly try!" Megatron shouted and fired his fusion cannon directly at Sapientia's face. The beam hit it right in the side of its head, but the explosion did nothing more than tilt its head slightly to the side. Sapientia was unfazed by the attack, and the beam did little damage aside from blowing a chunk off its shoulder.

'Ah slag.' Nightshade thought, knowing immediately that this fight was not going to be easy.

" **Meet the end here, and beg for Her forgiveness in the afterlife!"** Sapientia roared. " **Die at the hand of God!"**

XXXXXX

Optimus shielded his face from the downpour that pelted his large metal form without end. He was walking through a forest in Canadia, where the Cardinal was just located. Here, in what Teletran identified as the eye of the storm, an energy anomaly was detected within the storm and Optimus could tell he was on the right track. The deeper he got into the forest, the more violent the winds became. Walking through a forest during a thunderstorm was not the safest thing to do, but nothing Optimus did was good for his health.

He knew this was an incredibly foolish move on his part, but it was necessary. The Cardinal had already passed over two towns and destroyed them just by floating over them. Like a tornado, it continued on its path, unrelenting, unstoppable, just like the force of nature it was. But this was no force of nature, and Optimus could swallow the Matrix before he let things get too out of control.

And that very same Matrix was starting to glow in his chest. He was close.

'Almost there.' Optimus thought. 'Just a little farther.'

When he exited the forest, Optimus saw a massive tornado that sat in the middle of a field, the arctic tundra that covered much of northern Canadia. The tornado reached hundreds of feet into the air, but it wasn't extending from the clouds above. This tornado was being generated by its own power, a power not of Terran origin. Optimus only made it as far as 20 feet from the forest before he was forced to stop, lest he be swept away by the gale force winds. But at this distance, he could see a massive form at the heart of the tornado.

"Cardinal!" Optimus yelled. "Here I am!"

The winds grew stronger and lightning began striking the ground randomly, even hitting a tree and setting it on fire. As nature seemed to be unraveling before him, Optimus head a deep voice speak from within the tornado.

" **Here you are, standing before me in all of your splendor. Even in the cold dark winds of the tempest you shine brightly, Optimus Prime."**

At an unspoken command, the tornado dissipated and Optimus was allowed to see the Cardinal. It was just as alien looking as Fortitudo, sporting a large body built like a castle, with smooth marble skin with intricate patterns carved into its hide. Its face, stoic and cold, sat in the middle of its torso with a large golden halo floating above its main body. Its arms were like massive trees, also decorated and ending in large tube-like fingers that wiggled around in their socket. The arms were connected to the body by white tendrils of energy with two rings orbiting a diamond-like crystal holding everything together. It had no legs, floating hundreds of feet off the ground and sporting three ruby spheres along the lower portion of its body that was also decorated with green adornments encrusted with gold and silver.

" **I am Temperantia, Cardinal of the North and proud servant of Lady Jubileus."** It announced, with the same, deep reverberating voice that made the very air shake with power. " **You are either very brave, or very foolish to face me alone."**

"I did not come here to fight, great Cardinal, but to talk." Optimus said politely. "Will you listen?"

Temperantia considered the request, its smooth face showing no emotion. " **Speak, alien."**

"I appeal to you to stop your rampage, Cardinal. This storm you've caused with you power threatens innocent people, humans who you have professed to worship you and your goddess. I do not care what happens to me, for I do not ask this for myself or my Autobots , but for the humans who call this land home."

" **You risk you life like some kind of martyr for humanity?"** Temperantia asked, its face morphing into a scowl. **"There was another who did the same, a man who gave his life to spare mankind our retribution for sinning against us. But his sacrifice accomplished nothing, for humanity has devolved into a bunch of animals! Heathens who worship idols and false gods! Just like that mortal, your sacrifice will be in vain!"**

Temperantia's halo became brighter as the Cardinal's rage grew and it advanced upon Optimus, tearing up the land with its power.

" **This world belongs to the hierarchy of Laguna! Your kind has no place in our divine kingdom! Die and return to nothing!"**


	35. The Tempest part 2

Chapter 35-The Tempest part 2

The roar Temperantia gave was a sound that Optimus would remember for the rest of his life. It was a sound of primal fury, one directed entirely at Optimus for his supposed transgressions against the Dolem imperium. The Cardinal was no longer talking, now it was on the attack.

Optimus was already running back to the forest when Temperantia threw a fist at the ground. It hit the earth like a meteor and the entire forest trembled. Optimus avoided getting crushed by its punch, but the powerful shockwave it caused sent him flying head first into the trees. He hit the ground hard, but quickly recovered and started running. He turned around and fired his ion cannon, shooting ion blasts that peppered its hard skin. As expected, despite how powerful the ionized blasts were, they did either little or no damage to the Cardinal at all.

" **Give up, Prime."** Temperantia said, its eyes scanning the forest for Optimus. It couldn't see through the trees, but Optimus had a feeling that it wasn't above taking pot shots to root him out. " **The more you resist, the more humans will die because of your cowardice."**

"I'm not the one putting millions of lives at risk with my power! You'd kill them even if I did surrender, just to show off your so-called divinity." Optimus replied.

" **So you blame me for the deaths of people you failed to protect?"** Temperantia laughed a deep rumble in its chest. " **You are more of a fool than I thought."**

Temperantia raised its hand and pointed its long fingers down at the forest. Once its fingers were centered on where it thought Optimus was, it fired multiples projectiles that looked like missiles from its appendages. They looked like meteors, but had faces on them and were propelled through the air by red crystals that generated intense flames like rockets. Temperantia fired them from the hollow points of its fingers in the forest's general direction, not even bothering with aiming and such. They hit the trees and the ground with immense explosive force, and within seconds the forest was set aflame.

Optimus ran past the trees, hearing the deafening booms of the missiles going off behind him and the heat of the flames licking his back. Each projectile exploded with enough power to rival a concussion bomb, and being hit by the blast wave certainly felt like getting hit by a pressure wave. The tree next to Optimus blew up in a shower of sparks and bark, one piece hitting Optimus in the eye and shattering his optic shutter. He stumbled and that allowed another missile to hit the ground next to him, and he was blasted off his feet, crashing through a few branches before hitting a tree and falling to the ground.

When he saw another missile heading towards him, he drew his axe and leapt at it, cutting it I half and kicking the warhead away to explode harmless away from him. He landed on the ground and winced.

"I can't keep this up, but I need to lead it away from the humans!" He grunted and righted himself.

" **Such dedication. You would've been a fine Cardinal serving under Her grace,"** Temperantia said upon seeing Optimus stand against him without fear. " **But that zeal will only bring misery to your life. You, who has spent centuries fighting for others, will be nothing more than a relic when your petty war ends. Legends like you are born from war, and when that war ends, they die along with it."**

"If you're trying to get into my head, you're not doing a very good job." Optimus said defiantly.

" **It is time we ended this farce. You are coming with me."**

Temperantia leaned its large body over Optimus and reached out with its large hand to grab him. Optimus prepared to cut into the Cardinal's hand with his axe, maybe even sever its fingers, but he never got the chance. Three rockets hit the side of its hand, shattering the ceramic armor covering the fingers, causing the Cardinal to rear back in pain.

" **Who dares to attack a Cardinal?!"** Temperantia growled.

"This guy!" Jetfire appeared from above, shooting his particle cannon at its back. It tried to grab him, but he weaved out of range and continued taking pot shots at the creature to draw its attention away from Optimus.

"Jetfire?" He whispered. "How…?"

"On your feet, Prime." Two sets of hands helped him up. "The fight's just getting started."

Optimus turned around to see Wheeljack and Prowl next to him. They were sporting heavy weaponry; an ion displacer for Prowl and a thermo-rocket launcher for Wheeljack.

"What are you doing here? I thought I said to wait for my orders." Optimus said.

"With all due respect Prime, your orders were going to get you killed." Prowl replied. "As soon as we detected numerous heat sigs near your position, Ratchet sent us out."

"Who's us?"

"All of us." Wheeljack answered.

The engineer had explained that everyone had bridged to the area and were already forming a counter-offensive against the Dolem. Arcee, Jazz and Bumblebee were sitting at the top of the valley near the forest to get the jump on it from above. Bulkhead and Ironhide were in a secluded spot where they would lay down some heavy firepower on the Cardinal from the back. Jetfire was their aerial ace tasked with laying down cover fire and acting as a decoy. They were going to hit this thing and hit it hard.

Optimus wanted to protest getting the others involved, but they all knew the risks and had signed up to give their lives for the greater good. He it was a waste of time to try to get them to fall back, so he might as well take advantage of the extra guns as soon as possible.

"It's illogical to think that we would let you do this alone." Prowl told him, staring right at his face. "We're in this together."

Optimus chuckled and looked back at Temperantia. "Very well, Prowl. We'll do this together." He brandished his weapons and called out to the other Autobots. "Autobots, fire at will!"

XXXXXX

At the same time, thousands of miles away, the Decepticons were also battling their own Cardinal and things were not going so well for them.

Sapientia was built like a battleship. It took the full on assault from the Seekers and Blackout combined and didn't pause in its travel to Decepticon Island despite the aerial bombardment. But that didn't mean that it was completely docile either. From the faces mounted on its knees, they spat out missiles that tracked the flyers and pursued them through the air. Blackout fired his sonic wave attack at them, but one got too close and detonated right behind him. He spun through the air and switched to vehicle mode and tried to right himself before he and Cannon crashed into the ocean. He fired projectiles of his own at the beast, but was dismayed at the lack of damage his attacks did to the Cardinal's stony skin.

Megatron wasn't pleased either at the lack of progress his men were having at damaging the beast. He still stood atop Nightshade as she flew in low, getting just close enough for him to fire his fusion cannon. The beam hit Sapientia in the side of the head, but it did as much damage as the last time he tried it, and this time it retaliated by swiping its claw at them. Nightshade evaded the massive limb skillfully and flew back to gain some distance from it.

"What are you doing? Move in closer!" Megatron demanded.

"And risk us both getting snatched out of the air? No sir, I can't do that." She said. "Have the Seekers attack the back of it. Maybe that's where it's vulnerable."

Megatron looked up and saw Starscream and his team playing chicken with the powerful missiles that wouldn't let up. More and more just kept pouring out of the Cardinal, and they were forced to break contact to shoot them down.

"Starscream! I don't have you aboard so you could run, get back in there!" He snarled.

"We're trying not to get blown to pieces by the fragigng missiles, Megatron!" Starscream yelled back. "It's not like we can just ignore them."

"Then take them out and attack the beast, then! It's getting closer to the island." Nightshade told him.

"Oh frag it all!" Thundercracker dived to the ocean and flew straight at Spapientia, firing three proton torpedoes that shot straight into the Cardinal's opened mouth. The explosion caused water to shoot high into the air and actually stopped it short, its face covered in smoke and flames. "Hell yeah, it's hurt!"

Sapientia let out an angered growl and the panels on its thin body opened up to reveal four long tendrils with eyes at the end of them. They targeted the flyers and emitted beams of bright light that tried to shoot down the Seekers, following their every move. Blackout wasn't fast enough to avoid getting hit and the beam cleaved his tail rotor off in one swipe, and he went falling to the ocean. But Sapientia added insult to injury by spinning its body around with astounding speed and smacking the Con in mid-air with its tail. The blow shattered nearly every steel bone in the right side of Blackout's body and he went crashing into the water at speeds that would make him feel that impact in the morning…if he was still alive.

The rest of the fleshy stalks continued their assault on the Seekers, keeping them at bay and on the move. Nightshade saw Blackout's broken body in the water and called Knockout for a med evac.

"Megatron, we can't fight like this. We need to find a weak point, anything we can hit to stop it in its tracks." Nightshade said.

"I know that!" Megatron snapped and called the Nemesis. "Soundwave, ready the ship's long range weapons and prepare to fire on the target when it is within range."

" _Yes, Megatron."_

Just as he sent the message, Sapientia retracted the eye stalks back into its body and dived underwater, almost getting Thundercracker with its tail in the process. They lost sight of it as soon as its body vanished into the dark depths and the low visibility the storm provided didn't help matters at all. Nightshade used her beast mode's acute vision to search the water, but could find nothing.

"I can get a read on it with infrared." She said. Megatron cursed.

"That thing doesn't have a heat signature to search for. It's too deep for us to find now!" He growled. "Seekers! Return to the island and-"

Sapientia burst from the water like a whale, leaping hundreds of feet into the air and angling its head towards Megatron and Nightshade. Megatron was almost thrown off when Nightshade hurriedly flew backwards to avoid getting gobbled up by the Cardinal, and narrowly avoided getting cut in half by its glassy teeth. But just when she thought they were safe, Sapientia's body crashed into the ocean and its tail descended upon them, slamming into the two leaders and sending them into the water.

XXXXXX

Ratchet was monitoring the progress of his fellow Autobots via Teletran-1 in the command center. He made sure that everyone was alright, checking on their vitals and physical condition. It was a tense moment for him, as they were going up against a powerful being that could control the forces of nature itself. A being that was a head taller than Devastator! The Autobots had mobilized with a full load-out of weapons from Ironhide's personal collection-a cache of heavy weapons that they had never needed to use until now. It was an impressive arsenal, but against the Cardinals, it felt like he was being a bit too optimistic.

"Ratchet?"

He looked down to see the kids and their guardians standing by his feet. The kids had cleaned up and were looking a lot better now after almost falling off the bridge. Ratchet couldn't help but worry about them sometimes, they were a part of the team as much as any other Autobot. Honestly, he didn't know how he'd take it if anything happened to them.

"Hello children, are you all feeling alright?" He asked them.

"We're fine, Ratchet but what about the Bots?" Darren asked. "How are they doing?"

Ratchet sighed and turned back to the monitor. "I have Jolt on the scene to provide video footage of the battle in Canadia. The others are doing their best against the Cardinal, but all they seem to be doing is just holding it in place."

He maximized the video and showed it to them. The kids and Minicons were surprised at how different this Cardinal looked form the last one, and how powerful it was. Temperantia didn't do much aside from fire missiles from its fingers and deliver devastating punches to the tiny dots flying around him. It took them a minute to realize that those dots were Jazz and Arcee grappling along its body shooting it full of holes.

"Where's Optimus and the others?" Annie asked.

"Bulkhead and Ironhide are at the top of the canyon targeting its face, and Optimus is with Prowl and Wheeljack on the ground shooting it from below."

"So they're unleashing hell on that thing from every angle and they still haven't damaged it?" Grindor questioned.

"These Cardinals are a hardy bunch, Grindor. It took everyone to hurt Fortitudo, and we didn't make much progress until Gina took advantage of its weak spot." Ratchet said.

"Let us go out there, Ratchet. We can help." Gina said, but the medic shook his head.

"Out of the question. Optimus left me explicit orders not to let you go out there." He gave them a stern look that showed he was serious. "This is serious. What happened last time was out of our power, but this creature will not hesitate to kill you all. We got lucky last time, but we're not taking chances now."

"But we have weapons that are powerful, Ratchet. We know the danger and we can make a difference." Darren said. "We're no stranger to being in danger."

"That's the problem. Children your age shouldn't be caught up in this. I know you want to help, but we keep getting you involved to the point that we rely on you too much." Ratchet sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "This war is changing you into soldiers and that's the last thing we want to any of you."

"Don't say that!" Gina exclaimed. "Don't try to act like distancing us from all this is going to make things normal for us again! We've done things that we can't take back and that's just how things are. But we have a chance to save lives, save our home from being demolished by some freaky statue and here you are stonewalling us!"

"This is not up for discussion, Gina! Let the soldiers handle the war, and you stay back!" Ratchet shouted.

The room was silent after that. Ratchet and Gina stared at each other intensely, neither backing down. It wasn't until Wheeljack's voice came through the comm that Ratchet broke the deadlock.

" _Ratchet, are we doing any damage on our end? We're not getting any visible results here!"_ Wheeljack said.

"I hear you, Wheeljack, stand by." Ratchet replied in a tight voice.

Gina huffed and stomped out the room with Sureshock in tow. The twins and their partners stood there with the still angry medic not really knowing what to do in this situation. Eventually Grindor just gave up and took a seat.

"Not exactly how I imagined spending the apocalypse would go, but hey," He shrugged. "Life's full of surprises."

XXXXXX

The ocean felt ice cold to Nightshade, but it kept her conscious after getting hit by the Cardinal's massive tail. She reverted to robot mode and looked around for Megatron. She saw him swimming towards the surface and quickly activated her jets to propel herself through the water.

But in the murky depths, Nightshade saw Sapientia's form swimming right for them. Despite its massive form, it moved through the water like a shark, swimming in a pattern akin to a lizard, and its head was nearly opened all the way to snatch the two Cons in its mouth. She didn't waste any time to reach Megatron just as the Cardinal was upon them, sucking water into its gaping maw. Megatron, however, was quick on the draw. He spun around and fired a plasma beam at its upper jaw, shattering multiple teeth.

Surprisingly, the move caught Sapientia off guard and it shut its mouth in pain. This allowed Megatron to grab onto the top of its head as it swam for the surface, pressed down to its cranium as thousands of gallons of water pressed down on him. Then when it broke through the surface, Starscream flew in and fired his null ray at Sapientia's rear leg, destroying the face there in one shot. Without looking, he fired another shot at the head, almost hitting Megatron in the process.

"Watch where you're firing you idiot!" Megatron shouted.

"My apologies, Megatron." Starscream said, though he didn't look (the bastard was smirking) or sound apologetic.

'So he grows a spine when I'm in the line of fire. Worthless coward!' Megatron thought. He deployed his arm blade and stabbed it into Sapientia's skull, his blade easily cutting into the near diamond-hard rock. But to Sapientia it felt like a pin prick.

" **It appears your intelligence for battle does not extend to common sense. You weapons cannot hurt me, alien."** Sapientia laughed. " **My skin is like diamond, and my bones are like steel! You would be better off begging for your life!"**

"Megatron never begs," Megatron charged up electricity into his sword. "He conquers!"

He channeled the energy through his arm and into his blade, discharging it into the Cardinal's head. Though it didn't do any visible damage, the surge sent through its skull and brain had unexpectedly dazed it, jumbling its thoughts and causing it to slow down. This allowed Skywarp and Thundercracker to fly in and hit the remaining two faces on its left side with four proton missiles. One was destroyed, but the other on Sapientia's front left leg was still operational, firing its own projectiles that exploded around the Cardinal's body to drive the Seekers off.

Sapientia regained its senses and leapt up to snap at the Decepticon jets, but as soon as its body left the water, a bright flash of light hit its underbelly, followed by an explosion. Sapientia curled up in pain and fell back into the water, a crater blown into its abdomen. Nightshade flew out of the water, brandishing Gandiva.

"I'm sorry, did that hurt?" She asked, pulling the string back. "I couldn't hear you over the sound of your screams!"

She fired another arrow and destroyed one of its back legs in a glorious explosion, and Sapientia groaned mechanically, its body tilting a bit from the imbalance.

"How does it feel beast? That is pain, something we feel every day." Megatron taunted. He fired a beam at one of its wings to hammer in his words. "And I don't recall hearing of gods who bleed."

His insults caused something to snap within Sapientia and the creature started thrashing violently, kicking up water in large clouds of mist. Megatron held on tightly so that he wasn't thrown off, but that wasn't its goal. Sapientia pointed its head at Decepticon Island and opened its mouth, its lower jaw splitting in half to increase its mouth's side.

"Oh slag, what's it doing now?" Thundercracker asked.

He got his answer when the interior of Sapientia's throat started to glow and emit a faint light that was like a star in the heavy rains. Starscream instinctively knew what was coming next and opened fired on its head but the Cardinal seemed more impervious to his null blasts than before.

"Kill it, damn it, kill it!" Starscream shouted, firing madly at the beast alongside the other Seekers. Nightshade called Soundwave and issued an evacuation order.

"Soundwave, get everyone out of the Nemesis. The Cardinal is about to open fire on the island and you all need to evacuate now!" She yelled.

Nightshade pulled back Gandiva's string and released the arrow just as Sapientia fired its beam on the island. It was a blast of pure energy, shooting from its mouth in a massive burst before narrowing into a slender beam that let out a high pitched whine like a blow torch. The arrow hit its head and tilted it slightly to the side but did nothing to halt its attack.

The beam shot across the ocean as the speed of sound, and Megatron, Nightshade and Starscream could only watch as it reached the island and hit the Nemesis, engulfing the ship in flames.

XXXXXX

The battle against Temperantia was taking longer than they thought. Despite littering the Cardinal with nearly everything they had, it wasn't seriously hurt, sporting a few holes in its body from a few lucky shots that blew off chunks of stone, and they didn't even slow it down when it started moving again. Jetfire was starting to run out of missiles to fire and resorted to dropping proton bombs on its head, while Jazz abandoned the rocket launcher in favor of getting up and personal with it via grappling hook. He and Arcee were swinging around the Cardinal, throwing Jazz's new explosive shuriken at it and detonating them as soon as they were clear.

"You all set up, Bulk?" Ironhide asked.

"Yup. Power levels are holding and the targeting systems are functional." Bulkhead said. "Now we just need to wait for that ugly slaghead to get within range."

On the other side of the forest, Bulkhead and Ironhide were setting up their own heavy weapon-a nucleon shock cannon that was gathering dust in Ironhide's vault. It was a huge triple barreled cannon, similar to Megatron's fusion cannon, only bigger, that guzzled energon like no other, but was capable of blasting apart bots or punching through heavy armor. The only setback was that it was stationary and couldn't be carried around. So if the enemy got in close before you could fire it, you were screwed.

"Looks like we get out chance to fire old faithful here." Ironhide pointed to the large form of Temperantia that was heading towards the canyon.

" _Ironhide, we're heading straight towards you,"_ Prowl called in. " _Get ready to hit it!"_

Bulkhead cracked his knuckles and angled the cannon so that it was pointed at where Temperantia was going to be, near a rocky outcropping. Through the laser scope, he saw Optimus and Prowl running from the Cardinal, firing at it as Wheeljack fired every explosive device he had from his shoulder cannons. Ironhide waited until Temperantia was lured to the outcropping by Jazz and Arcee.

"We're going in for one more run before we have to split!" Jazz yelled.

"Roger that!" Arcee said.

They grappled onto its body again and started throwing their shuriken at its front side. Together they formed an X pattern on its body and exploded them all at once, engulfing its chest in flames. As expected, they did minimal damage, but Bumblebee, who was standing near Jolt keeping an eye on things from his vantage point atop a nearby hill, noticed something. The explosions near the right shoulder briefly touched the energy line between its body and its arm, and he saw Temperantia flinch for a second and growl.

'Did it just feel pain?' Bumblebee thought. Acting on a hunch, he called up Ironhide. "Ironhide, I think I have something here."

"Not now kid, we're about to fire" The red Autobot said.

"Just listen to me! I want Bulkhead to move the cannon so that it's pointing at the point between its arm and torso." Bumblebee requested.

"What? But that won't do a damn thing!"

"Trust me on this!"

"Guys, the thing is almost in range." Bulkhead said. "What's the game plan?"

Ironhide gritted his teeth and decided to take a chance on Bumblebee's hunch. He told Bulkhead to position the cannon slightly more to the left and had him wait for the his order. Jazz and Arcee drew the Cardinal closer into view and just when it reached the point of no return, Ironhide gave the order.

"Fire!"

Bulkhead pulled the trigger and the shock cannon hummed loudly before firing a massive emerald beam from its three barrels. The beams combined into one massive blast and cut through the air like a bullet, hitting the Cardinal right in the nexus point in its shoulder. To everyone's surprise, Temperantia let out a pained roar as the blast hit the orb holding its arm to its body. Pain rippled through its body and caused it to stop in its tracks.

"Holy slag it worked!" Bumblebee cheered.

"What worked?" Prowl asked over the comm.

"Guys, the points where its arm meets its body, attack those points! They're like open nerves. Hit it and you'll hurt it." The yellow scout explained.

Optimus didn't ask any questions. He just opened fire on the sphere and saw it recoil in pain once again. He relayed the command to the other units to do the same. They just found a weak point.

"That's out Bee!" Jazz grinned. "Jetfire, give us a lift!"

Jetfire flew into the valley and the two cyber-ninjas jumped onto his wings. The Autobot aerial ace circled around and gained some altitude. Once he passed over Temperantia, Jazz and Arcee did a perfectly synchronized leap off their comrade and descended upon the Cardinal, shooting at it from above. But it wasn't so hurt that it was going to let them get the drop on it again. Temperantia lashed out with a punch that hit the canyon wall and shattered the dense rock like glass, sending boulders falling on top of their friends on the ground.

"Whoa!" Arcee flipped over its hand when it tried to backhand her. She narrowly made it over and was almost sent falling to her death by the rushing wind it sent at her. "It's not going to let us get near!"

"Jetfire, it's on you now!" Optimus said. "Hit it hard!"

Jetfire flew over Temperantia again and dropped more concussion bombs down on it. Most of the bombs hit its halo with powerful explosions, but two of the bombs hit Temerantia's exposed joint, causing more pain to the Cardinal. Temperantia gave a roar and fired more missiles from its fingers, but Jetfire had transformed and shot them down before going back into jet mode. Optimus tried not to let his body sag in relief at finally being able to wound this supposedly invincible being, but it was hard not to.

"Good work, Jetfire!" Optimus said. "Just keep up the assault until Ironhide and Bulkhead can recharge the cannon."

"Wait," Prowl said and pointed at Temperantia's face. "What's it doing now?"

Optimus looked at Temperantia and saw its face extended from its socket like some kind of deformed snake. Its eyes were glowing and when it opened its mouth, its jaw split into three parts. Glowing white sparkles began to vent from its mouth, growing in intensity with each second. Temperantia then inhaled sharply, drawing the sparkles into its body and opening its mouth wider.

Then it exhaled.

It was like the sun itself shined from within its body. An intense beam of light shot from its mouth and hit the ground, causing the earth to rumble from the power of the blast. Optimus barely had time to tell his forces to retreat when Temperantia moved its head up the canyon floor towards him and his partners. Optimus, Prowl and Wheeljack were able to get away from the beam itself, but the explosions it trailed in its wake blasted them away and covered them in flames. Temperantia raised its head and swiped the beam at Jetfire, who avoided getting cut in half, but couldn't avoid having most of his left wing burned off by the beam and he went falling to earth in a death spiral.

Temperantia lifted its head and dragged the beam up the side of the canyon, burning deep gouges into the rock as it tried to incinerate the other Autobots. Jazz and Arcee had to jump off the cliff as the beam ripped apart the ground underneath them. Bumblebee transformed to his alt mode and drove as fast as he could with Jolt on his tail to avoid the light beam that tore apart everything it touched. But it didn't pay much attention on them, as it swept its beam across the landscape to where Bulkhead and Ironhide were stationed, watching in shock and awe at the amount of destruction it was causing.

"Move!" Bulkhead exclaimed and pulled Ironhide down the slope just as the beam hit the spot they were just in, destroying their shock cannon and the small mountain it sat on. The two Autobots were sent rolling through the dirt as the beam carved deep crevices into the ground like a laser beam. Scarring the earth and incinerating plants on contact.

The Cardinal continued this for several minutes, sweeping its beam across the land and destroying everything in its path. Even far off towns in the distance were not spared from the beam's long range, as they were destroyed in an instant from a single shot. Thousands of people who were seeking shelter from the storm, people who were unaware of the battle going on hundreds of miles from their homes, were killed in an instant. Their only solace was that their deaths were quick and only hurt for a moment before their bodies were vaporized. Two more towns met the same fate, carved and divided and reduced to molten slabs of barely recognizable constructs.

When its power was nearly depleted, Temperantia cut its beam off and retracted its head back into its body, settling in place to watch the land be engulfed in hellfire. All around it, as far as 200 miles, the land was burning, scorched and sporting the morbid scars that were done to like. It was like a scalpel that was heated to 1,000 degrees had stabbed into the earth and cut through stone and dirt and water like it was flesh.

This was what Optimus saw as he sat on his knees, staring at the flames that surrounded him. The world was burning and he couldn't do a thing about it. So much destruction caused in such little time. This didn't even match up to what Fortitudo was capable of. If one Cardinal could have this much power, then what was an army of them like? How many worlds had felt the full might of their power? How many people enslaved for their "salvation". Optimus thought that they had a chance against Temperantia on their own but he realized now that he was sorely mistaken.

His audio receptors were full of static from the shrieking whine of the beam that almost torched them, so he didn't hear Prowl call out to him or call Ratchet for an evac. He felt Wheeljack struggle to pull him up to his feet and drag him towards the ground bridge. Optimus followed him, but he never took his eyes off Temperantia's large form looming over the flames, its body covered by the smoke save for its glowing eyes. Staring into the impassive face of the Cardinal ignited a rare but familiar feeling within Optimus-rage.

This wasn't over. He wouldn't stop protecting this world and his friends until his Spark stopping pulsing.

XXXXX

" _Scientists are baffled by the abnormal weather patterns happening across the western hemisphere, with storms ravaging coastal cities and flood warnings reaching as far as Arizona and Ozark. Astronomers believe that this may be connected to the recent planetary alignment which…"_

"Turn it off." High Wire said tiredly. Darren waved his hand and the screen went black.

The mood was somber for the tiny occupants of the Ark's west wing. Jolt, bruised and beaten with only minor injuries, had informed them of the operation's failure. According to Ratchet, three towns were destroyed by Temperantia in the span of just a few minutes, killing thousands in one fell swoop. The Autobots barely made it out with their lives; Optimus, Wheeljack and Prowl were being treated for their burns, Jetfire was recovering from his brush with death, and the others were being seen to for their minor damages, the lucky ones. Things were brought down even more by reports of the weather gaining intensity all over Delpoi and Azteca. Floods, car accidents, wildfires caused by stray lightning bolts, even snowstorms, all the elements of Mother Nature assaulting humanity at once. All because of the Dolems _._

Debbie clapped her hands to get everyone's attention. "So who wants to play a game?"

She got back a multitude of dry looks in response. Even Peppercat was not amused and slinked away in beast mode to sleep in private.

"Really sis?" Annie shook her head. "Now's not the time."

"Well excuse me for trying to lighten the mood!" Debbie crossed her arms and motioned to the depressed expressions on the Minicons' faces. "How am I supposed to deal with all these sour faces? All this sitting around and moping isn't doing anyone any good."

"Well what do supposed we do?" Grindor asked. "I mean, I'm sure we have a few guns in the closet but I'm not really into the whole group killing thing."

"That's not even remotely funny, Grindor." High Wire scolded.

"Good, because I wasn't trying to." Grindor stood up. "We're screwed ten ways from Sunday and we can't do a thing about it."

"Way to be negative, Grindor." Annie frowned.

"He's right girly," Road Storm said, leaning on his knees. "We stuck on a sinking ship with no way out."

"Oh, it's game over man!" Liftor whimpered. "Game over!"

"Maybe we should jump ship before we get slagged by that thing out there." Rollbar said.

"Would everyone shut up!" Gina shouted, halting the chatter. "Listen to yourselves! How can you think of giving up like this? Is this how it was on Cybertron? Things got too hot for you all so the best option was to just run away?"

"Gina, we're not cowards. It's just," Rollbar sighed. "What can we do in this situation? You've heard Jolt, that thing torched 200 miles of land and destroyed three towns in 10 minutes. The Autobots were nearly wiped out by tat one blast."

"So your first instinct is to up and leave them despite risking everything to make sure that you all got back safe?" Gina shook her head in disgust. "That's just sickening. If you plan on doing that then you're no different from the Cons!"

"What do you know about how we work blondie?" Road Storm got in Gina's face, but Sureshock pushed him back. "You don't know slag about what we've been through! Why we left Cybertron in the first place. We left that planet to escape enslavement and death and this planet is just another Cybertron waiting to happen. I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't want to go through that again!"

"Then fight for your freedom. Don't just run away." Darren said. "You won't solve anything by running away other than making the problem worse. That fact is that you all live here now, and if you want to stay free then you're going to have to fight back."

"That's a great speech and all, but how can we help fight against that thing?" Sonar asked. "I mean, as strong and mighty as the Air Defense team is, I doubt giving the Autobots a power boost is going to make things easier for them."

"We Minicons are not just power ups or weapons for the Bulks to use, Sonar. We can be dangerous to." High Wire said. "Look at what we've built. Gestalts and Targetmasters, combined to make powerful weapons for the defense of Minicon independence. We're intelligent beings who can do more than hold and fire guns. There's more to war than just fighting."

"I couldn't have said it better than myself." Sparkplug entered the room looking worn and tired. His vibrant yellow armor even looked a bit duller.

"Sparkplug, is everyone okay?" Debbie asked.

"Well, aside from Jetfire being grounded, the rest of the Bots are in one piece. Prime and the others just left the CR chambers, and are having a strategy session right now to figure out a new plan of attack." Sparkplug turned to the children. "I heard that pep talk you gave. I didn't think you'd feel so strongly about staying to fight."

"Well, our home is in danger to if that thing gets within shooting distance of Dakote." Darren said. "Despite what Ratchet says, more important things than the lives of three children are at stake. Seeing those towns destroyed, all those people killed." He shook his head. "We can't let that happen again."

"Wise words, and I think I know a way we can help." Sparkplug turned to Sara. "After hearing Jolt's account on what happened, I think we can formulate a plan of our own that might help win this battle."

"What do you have in mind?" High Wire asked.

"Simple, High Wire," Sparkplug slammed his fist into his palm as the life returned to his eyes. "We're going to find that thing's weak points and strike at its Achilles' heel!"


	36. The Tempest part 3

Chapter 36-The Tempest part 3

Optimus sat at the head of the table, silent and serious as he listened to Ratchet's damage report on Temperantia's recent rampage. The other Autobots save for Jetfire were also sitting at the round table with an air of defeat and solemnity over them. Their wounds were superficial, just a few dents and scratches, but the knowledge of their failure hurt more than any physical wound. Even Jazz, who was the usually the light of the party, was quiet and edgy. Things were reaching a critical point now, and they were getting desperate.

"In addition to the three towns that were destroyed, half a city was leveled by a class five tornado that tore through the area," Ratchet reported. "The casualty count can best be described as the accumulated population of the tree towns. Temperantia has already passed the Canadia border and is passing through Jasper into Manitoba. Within a few hours it will reach Dakote and then Oregon."

Optimus sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Thank you, Ratchet." He looked up at his team and got down to business. "Autobots, we need to stop it before it can get as far as Manitoba. If it reaches Dakote, then our time limit will be shortened considerably. Any ideas on how to slow it down?"

"What we need is a strategy that doesn't involve us shooting wildly and hoping for a miracle." Prowl said and brought up a 3D image of Temperantia on the holo-display. "We need to know its full capabilities, on top of its weak points. We can't screw up like we did earlier or we're all dead."

"So what do we know?" Jazz asked. Wheeljack highlighted the hands and fingers of the Cardinal.

"Well, it can fire missiles from its fingers like rocket launchers. How many of those things it has is up for speculation, but I can gather that it grows its weapons the same way humans grow hair and finger nails."

"That's totally unfair." Bumblebee muttered.

"Nothing's fair in war kid." Ironhide grumbled. "Let's not forget those damn punches. That forest we were in looks like the surface of the moon."

"And finally that ungodly light beam it nearly slagged us with." Arcee grumbled. Just thinking about that powerful attack made her shiver. So much destruction, so many lives lost, it was unreal. "I can't believe we made it out alive."

"Judging from how it operates, I think it works as a high powered photon beam." Wheeljack explained, showing footage of Temperantia carving up the landscape with its attack. "See how it burns through everything it touches? Think of it as a photon beam or laser emitter that we use on our battleships. If that's the case, then we can assume that its range exceeds 200 square miles and can blast through practically anything."

"Don't photon lasers like that need to recharge after firing?" Bulkhead asked. When the others gave him odd looks, he got a bit defensive. "I don't just smash things, you know. I know my way around a few machines."

Wheeljack chuckle a bit before going back to his explanation. "Yes, a large photon beam like that would need to recharge and thus the same could probably be said for the Cardinal as well."

"That would explain why it's moving slower than before." Prowl noted.

"Which means we still have some time before it can unleash that beam on us." Bumblebee said. "And a window of opportunity to stop that thing before it torches us."

"A very small window." Arcee grumbled.

"But that still doesn't answer our question; what are its weaknesses?" Prowl folded his hands and leaned on the table. "We know that the spheres at the shoulders are vulnerable, but the rest of its body can take damage like a full powered gestalt."

Optimus nodded. "I doubt Temperantia will allow us to get a few hits in like before. It will be on its guard more than ever now. We just need some secondary targets to hit in the mean time."

"Perhaps, we can help with that."

The Autobots looked to the doorway to see the children and Sparkplug standing there with Sara. Sparkplug grinned at them. "I take it you're still thinking of a solid plan of attack?"

"We are," Optimus said, glad that the Micron leader was still willing to work with them. "I take it you have a suggestion?"

"Possibly. The kids and I did some behind the scenes work and may have found something that may help."

"Oh really?" Prowl asked skeptically. "We don't have time for this. You aren't supposed to be here, and neither are you Sparkplug."

"Prowl, we are not in the mood for you being a desk jokey right now." Darren said. "We're trying to help you people save lives, so could you work with us for once?"

"Let them speak, Prowl." Optimus turned to the children. "Go ahead."

"Well," Gina said. "I had Sara download some information from Teletran-1 about the Cardinal and-"

"Whoa, hold up," Wheeljack held up a hand. "You're saying that Sara infiltrated Teletran's systems?"

Gina gave an apologetic smile. "Yeah, sorry."

Wheeljack wasn't mad, if anything he looked intrigued. "How did she do that? Teletran has firewalls that even Soundwave would have trouble getting past."

"It's quite simple actually. Sara just had to mimic an Autobot signature Teletran was familiar with and…"

Annie put a hand on the blonde's shoulder. "Gina, could you save the techno-jargin until we're not facing the threat of total annihilation?"

"Oh, right. Let's continue," Gina blushed and cleared her throat. "As I was saying, Sara reviewed the footage of your fight with Temperantia that she got from Jolt, and we downloaded additional information from Talatran-1's databanks. Rollbar had analyzed the footage from every possible angle and we noticed some interesting things."

Sara blinked and the holo-display on the table changed to the footage of the Autobots hitting the Cardinal with their heavy weapons. She paused the video and zoomed in on where the missiles were hitting its main body.

"See how the missiles and lasers don't do any damage to it? It wasn't any fault on your part or from weak weapons," Gina zoomed in and they all saw the missiles exploded mere inches away from its skin, hitting something invisible. "They're hitting a force field."

"Of course, hax of the highest order." Jazz groaned. "How did we not notice this?"

"We think the field is localized, that is, it runs as close to the Cardinal's skin as possible and only activates when its hit. During which it's invisible to the naked eye." Darren explained. "If that was the case, then we figured that the force field had to have been created and maintained by something, like how your barrier technology works."

Wheeljack caught onto that quickly. "Like a makeshift generator of some kind! An anchor to power the field and maintain its integrity."

"I assume that you also have a possible solution to this problem?" Optimus asked.

Sara zoomed out and highlighted the red spheres on Temperantia's body. There were two on its lower body and a third on its back. "Scans show that these spheres emit a steady pulse of energy that travels throughout its body. We believe that it is the source of its protection."

"The farther away from the field, the weaker it gets." Sparkplug supplied. "Those spots where you managed to chip off some stone? That's where the field is at its weakest. They're small and hard to hit, as the spheres cover almost its entire body."

"Which means that we'll have to take those things out if we want to do some real damage." Ironhide grinned. "I like this plan."

"Still, none of this information is concrete." Prowl pointed out. He tried not to get too caught up in the information they were giving them. They made a lot of good points, but none of it was proven, just based on a few blurry images and scans. "I'm not trying to burst everyone's bubble, but it's risky to place our bests on rough estimates. It lowers our chances of survival by 35 percent."

"We don't have time to deliberate." Ratchet said. "We might just have to take a chance on this one, Prowl."

Prowl grumbled but accepted that fact. He hated making plans based on estimates and guesses that had a high percentage of going wrong. Taking risks like these put everything in jeopardy.

"We will have to attack these spheres and the orbs within a short amount of time before it can launch a counterattack like last time." Optimus said.

"And that's where we come in." Annie said proudly.

"Not a chance, it's hell fighting that thing. Too risky to send you guys out." Bulkhead said.

"Gotta agree with Bulk on this one. You kids can barely fight off a Decepticon, and this guy is super strong." Ironhide said.

"You don't have a choice." Gina said. "Without Jetfire, you don't have air support, and that's crucial if you want to bring down its defenses. We can fly in our Talos and deliver one hell of a beating on top of it. We'll be fine, we know better than to run into danger blindly."

"Most of do, anyway." Darren muttered, earning a glare from Annie.

Optimus found it hard to deny that. They already have the beginnings of a plan in the works, but most of it will rely on air strikes to deal heavy damage to the Cardinal. Firepower that the Talos had in spades. The only problem is that it puts the children in the thick of it.

"Still, we will be putting you in danger." Optimus said, trying feebly to convince them not to put their lives on the line.

"Optimus, thousands of people are in danger." Darren said. "Our lives pale in comparison to that."

Optimus looked at them, noting their intense expressions and willingness to jump into the fray to save not just their home, but their entire country and beyond from this threat. It was a need to fight for their home and loved ones that Optimus saw in many new Autobots these days. Seeing that they were dedicated to helping them, Optimus sighed and nodded his consent.

"You may join us." He said and turned back to his Autobots. "Prowl, formulate a plan of attack with the information you just learned and do it quickly. The less time we spend here, the more time we'll have in stopping it."

"I'm already working on it, Prime." Prowl nodded and got up. "It'll take a lot of effort, but I'm predicting that our chances of winning have increased with this information."

"Now we're back in business!" Jazz hollered.

Ironhide looked down at the children. "You better suit up, kids. You're coming with us straight into hell."

XXXXXX

Knockout though he had died. It was all so quick, so sudden, that he didn't know what happened. But his optics came online with a start and the memories came rushing back. Nightshade's order to evacuate the ship, and then his med lab blowing up and blasting him Primus knows how far. When his vision returned, he saw that everything was on fire and could feel the intense heat licking at his scratched armor. Then he realized that someone was dragging him.

"Get up!" Someone yelled at him.

"Huh?" Knockout could barely tell what was going on. A hard slap to his face brought him back to his senses and he saw Barricade's face leaning over him.

"I said get up you fool! We need everyone to quell the flames!" Barricade yelled.

But Knockout was more concerned with something more important. "Did you just slap me? With those fingers?"

"Focus Knockout!"

"I almost get blown to scrap you daft bastard!" The medic shouted and wretched his arms free of Barricade's hold. "The last thing I need is having my flawless features scarred forever by your claws Edward Scissorhands!"

"Would you both shut up and put out those damn flames!" Flamewar yelled at them and sprayed foam sealant over the flames. Rumble and Frenzy were helping out by wielding large fire extinguishers to keep the flames from spreading to the rest of the ship.

Soundwave and Leader-1 were at their stations trying to control the situation. The ship's auto-repair system came online and worked to control flames, but that wasn't going to last long. The beam had hit the rear of the Nemesis, blasting a large hole through the hull and destroying both the ship's thrusters and the engine block, igniting the energon core and creating a chain reaction that nearly took out a third of the ship. With the energon core compromised, they were running on reserve power now, and it was only a matter of time before that ran out as well.

" _Sounwave, damage report._ " Megatron demanded.

"Much of the ship is severely damaged. The energon core is compromised, and is destroyed along with the medical bay and energon storage. The ship is running on reserve power, though power levels are starting to fluctuate." Soundwave reported.

" _Then activate any weapons that are still operational and target the beast! Fire when ready!"_

The Nemesis was designed to be a siege engine, able to literally smash through enemy defenses and deploy troops within enemy lines while also laying down a heavy bombardment of its own. Thus, it was equipped with its fair share of weapons that can do a lot of damage in little time. But that one blast had destroyed half of those weapons and forced the ones still operational to run at half power. For a ship that could take fire from other warships of its kind, this was a disturbing moment for the Decepticons.

Soundwave entered some commands and looked at the main monitor, seeing Sapientia swimming towards the island. It was getting closer by the minute, and he could see the Seekers and Nightshade flying around it trying to shoot it down. Megatron was also on its back, shooting at anything he could get within his sights. The Cardinal was heavily damaged, but it paid its attackers no mind as it swam towards its objective. Soundwave didn't want to shoot with his leader in the line of fire, but Megatron's orders were absolute.

"Activating secondary warp cannons and firing missile pods. Stand by." Leader1 reported.

Out at sea, Megatron held on tight to Sapientia's right wing as it swam through the rough waters at high speeds. It dodged Nightshade's arrows, which seemed to be the only thing that could deal its own damage to the durable creature. As he held on, Nightshade flew in as close as she could to tell him about the coming assault.

"Soundwave is preparing to fire the Nemesis' weapons at the Cardinal. You need to disengage!" She said.

"I said I'd tear its heart out and I stand by that promise." Megatron said. "Now slow it down long enough for it to be targeted."

Nightshade made to protest, but Starscream flew in next to her in robot mode. "Let him go, if he wants to go out in a blaze of glory then let him!"

"We've got weapons fire!" Skywarp exclaimed. "Get clear!"

The panels on Sapientia's back opened up and four long tendrils made of flesh slithered out from its spine. At the end of these tendrils were reptilian eyes that fired laser from their pupils. Skywarp teleported out of the path of one beam, but Thundercracker almost got cut in half by another. Nightshade and Starscream concentrated their fire on one of the stalks and destroyed it in a geyser of blood.

As they battled, two large purple plasma beams were fired from Decepticon Island and hit Sapientia dead center in its front leg and shoulder. This allowed the rain of missiles to hit the Cadinal's body with the force of a non-nuclear blast, shattering its granite skin and stopping it in its tracks. Megatron hid under its wing to avoid the fiery rain.

"Haha! How do ya like that ya freak?" Skywarp cheered.

Sapientia leapt out of the water and smacked him out of the air, its claws hitting Skywarp with the force of a direct punch from Devastator. The purple Seeker hit the water with a big splash and didn't resurface. Sapientia then fired another beam from its mouth, one that was slightly weaker than what it last dished out, and drove the others away.

" **Fools! I am protected by the divine love of Jubileus! You cannot kill me!"** Sapientia roared. " **You are only prolonging your inevitable death!"**

Sapientia raised its head and opened its mouth to fire another beam at the island. It was going to finish this fight one way or another.

XXXXXX

"Absolutely not!" Debbie yelled, crossing her arms. "None of you are going out into that chaos!"

"Debbie…" Darren sighed.

The humans were in the munitions plant where their Talos were stationed. The kids were already clad in their pilot suits-skin tight exo-frames that were designed not only to protect the children while piloting their machines, but also grant them increased physical abilities in case they were stuck in the middle of battle without their units. It wasn't encouragement to fight Mincons with their bare hands, but it'll increase their survival rate in case things get hot. Debbie, after learning of what the children planned to do, put her foot down and wasn't going to let them go. They understood her fears, but they didn't have time for this right now.

"Debbie, please," Gina pleaded. "That monster is tearing through town after town, and is heading straight for our home state. Tranquility is in trouble and we have to do something before we lose everything."

"I don't care. The Autobots are more than enough to handle that thing."

"No, they're obviously not." Annie replied. "Sis, with our help, they can take that thing out and-"

"No! I already lost mom and dad to a war and I'm not losing you two to another." Debbie screamed. She was starting to cry, trying to stay strong but failing. "I won't be able to go on if I lost both of you as well. I can't go through that again…"

Darren and Annie walked over to their big sister and hugged her tightly. Debbie hugged them back and didn't let go for a few minutes.

"We have to do this, Debbie." Darren muttered. "For our home, and for you."

"But you're kids, you shouldn't have to be involved in all this." She whimpered. "You're all so young. Too young to be fighting for your lives."

"Honestly, sis, I think we stopped being kids when we found the Minicons in that cave." Annie smiled sadly and gave Debbie a kiss on the cheek. "We'll look after each other sis. That's a promise."

After another hug, the twins disengaged from their sister and walked to their Talos, the crimson and gold Prometheus and the ebony black Enyo. Debbie stepped back as the three machines powered up and started to move, stomping past her and out the room. Debbie saw the Street Action Team standing by the entry way and walked over to them.

"High Wire, Grindor, Sureshock," She said, taking a deep breath to calm herself. "Please, keep them safe."

"We will, Debbie. We'll protect them with our lives." High Wire said. At a mental command, the three Minicons combined into the towering gestalt Centurion. He looked down at her and spoke in his deep voice. "Just as we have always done."

Debbie stood in place as she watched the three Talos and the Minicon gestalt leave for the dangerous mission they signed on for. She closed her eyes and prayed to Gaia or whatever god was listening to her that they all made it back safe and sound.

XXXXXX

Temperantia flew across the landscape at a moderate pace. It had recharged about half its energy during the time it passed through Jasper into Manitoba. It was crossing over a wide field that transformed into an abstract rocky region where there were dozens of towering stone spires that reached hundreds of feet into the air. The humans of the native Manitou tribes called this place the thunderhawk forest-named after the legendary thunderbird that was said to have shaped this land with its power. It wasn't a forest in the traditional sense, rather it was a far reaching forest of rock formations ranging from stone pillars to archways. Structures so precise that only nature could have made something so amazing.

Temperantia inwardly scolded itself for the foolish move it made. Using most of its power in that one blast had slowed its progress considerably. Quintessence, the power of life itself and the source of the Dolems' awesome power, was not infinite. It could be depleted and would take time to recharge. As plentiful in the mysterious energy this world was, he needed time to absorb enough power to get back to full strength, and he did not have time to dawdle about.

"Temperantia!"

The Cardinal stopped in its tracks at the sound of someone calling its name. It looked straight forward, and saw Optimus standing on top one of the shorter stone pillars. On his arm Sparkplug was powerlinked to his limb, and he held his ion cannon in his other hand.

" **So you've come looking for another punishment, Prime. I thought you were smarter than that."** Temperantia said.

"You will learn that I'm not one to give in to a higher authority," Optimus pointed his cannon at the Cardinal. "Case in point!"

He pulled the trigger and fired an ion blast that hit Temperantia in its left sphere, causing an energy discharge that caused it to recoil in pain. It flinched back, and glared at Optimus, firing twin beams from its eyes in a sweeping motion. Optimus rolled to the side to avoid the beams, and heard the taller rock pillars get destroyed by the powerful blast. He jumped up and saw Temperantia pulling its fist back and throwing a punch at him.

Optimus jumped off the pillar and used the other formations to safely land on the ground. Temperantia fired its eye beams at the ground and Optimus quickly transformed with Sparkplug to drive away from the massive beams. He swerved into a hard right and returned to robot mode, hiding from sight in a small space where Darren was hiding with his Talos. Optimus gave the signal and Darren nodded, telekinetically pulling up four large boulders, which he took with him as he flew into the air. Once he was air born, Darren flung the boulders at Temperantia, pelting its body with large rocks that he would not have been able to manipulate without his Talos. The Cardinal turned to Darren's direction and lifted and arm to block the boulders from hitting its face.

Behind another pillar, Jazz, powerlinked with Road Storm, swung out of hiding on his grapple line and propelled himself behind the Cardinal. When Temperantia raised its arm to fire missiles from its finger tubes, Jazz leapt into the air and fired a volley of fast acting nitrogen blasts that froze the fingers on contact, turning them into solid ice. Before Temperantia could react, Jazz descended upon its hands and smashed its fingers into tiny crystalline shards. This took only minutes and Jazz was quick enough to open fire on the other hand as well when it reached for him. He kicked himself off its body and froze some of the other fingers to, grappling onto another pillar and latching on to it.

"Cee, do your thing!" Jazz yelled.

Arcee, who was linked with Peppercat, used her newly increased speed to run up a pillar and leap at the Cardinal's hand. She grabbed onto the massive limb and ran to the fingers, which she then began to hack away at with her swords. She managed to shatter the ones that were frozen, but were forced to leave when Temperantia slammed its hand against a rock formation, destroying it.

"It's lost most of its fingers, Optimus. We're ready for phase 2!" Arcee reported.

"Bulkhead, Ironhide, Bumblebee, take out the arms!" Optimus called out.

The three Autobots were stationed on three separate rock formations. Equipped with their own heavy weapons, thermo-rocket launchers for Bulkhead and Ironhide and a magma-grenade launcher for Bumblebee, and opened fire on the closest target, which was Temperantia's right arm. They focused their fire on the energy sphere that tied its arm to its body, and allowed the laser guided rockets to do the rest. Temperantia groaned as the rockets hit its shoulder, and Bumblebee firing at the spheres on its lower body kept it spinning around attempting to focus on three targets at once. Eventually the assault was too much for the sensitive organ and the sphere exploded into a shower of fine red dust.

Temperantia's roar was deafening as its right arm fell to the ground, hitting the earth with tremendous force and causing a nearby pillar to collapse. Seeing it crippled gave the Autobots some hope in this seemingly dire situation. They were actually able to wound it!

"Hell yeah, we took out its arm!" Bulkhead laughed.

"Now it's time for the other one." Jazz said and looked over at Arcee. "You ready Cee?"

"Always am, Jazz." Arcee replied. She felt Peppercat channel more energy into her body and leapt off the pillar.

Arcee grappled onto a stone archway and swung herself around the Cardinal's body. But just as she was taking aim at its exposed nerve near the shoulder, Temperantia swung its fist at her at blinding speeds.

"Arcee!" Darren shouted.

Arcee was in no position to avoid it this time, and just before the fist reached her, she saw Jazz's body cover her own and he grabbed her in mid-air. The punch hit them both with immense force and sent both Autobots crashing into the ground and skidding through the dirt at high speeds. The other Autobots watched in horror as their friends' bodies disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Bumblebee, go see to Jazz and Arcee!" Optimus ordered. "Darren, stand by for Prowl's signal with the girls. Once they distract it, it's up to your four to destroy its defenses."

Darren wanted to protest, get back at that monster for hurting his friends, but he knew that sticking with the plan was crucial. They couldn't stop now for whatever reason.

Not too far away from the fighting, Wheeljack and Prowl were standing on a rocky hit near an empty caldera. They were plating a rocket launcher that Wheeljack had made from one of their remaining neutron cannons. It was designed to fire a rocket with its warhead replaced with a phase charge bomb that packed enough power to level a city block. Magnifying his optics, Prowl saw Optimus leading Temperantia towards their position and looked down at Wheeljack.

"Is it ready yet?"

"Yup, I just got finished calibrating the laser guidance system. Now all you need to do is keep your eyes on the target and the rocket will fly straight at it." The engineer said.

Prowl kept his eyes on the Cardinal as it got closer and closer to their position. It as key that it did not notice them as it did so or else they would be forced to retreat and ditch the cannon. Once Optimus had reached their pre-determined no man's land, he gave Prowl the order to fire.

"Fire!" Prowl shouted.

The rocket flew from its launcher faster than the eye could see and shot straight at Temperantia's other arm. Despite it moving, Prowl's line of sight helped the rocket adjust its trajectory, something that was very hard to do with fast moving projectiles. The rocket hit the sphere near its left arm and the entire left side of Temperantia's body was engulfed in a powerful explosion that lit up the dark, stormy night sky. So great was the detonation that Temperantia actually leaned to the side and almost fell over from the immense pain it was feeling. Lowering a little more to the ground.

Elsewhere, Darren, Annie, Gina and Centurion saw the large plume of flames and powered up their Talos to mobilize.

"That's our cue, people." Darren said, his heart beating wildly. "Let's go!"

XXXXXX

Nightshade didn't know what to expect when she pulled Gandiva's string back. She had no idea if it could do much of a difference since her last two attacks were basically shrugged off, and it would be foolish to compare it to Fortitudo. But seeing it powering up for a death blow to the Nemesis urged her to take action. She didn't survive hundreds of years of oppression under the senate's rule, and thousands of years of grueling warfare just to have it all get blown up by some freak with a large mouth and fancy wings.

She let the arrow fly just as lightning streaked through the sky, and there was a brief, illuminating flash that blinded everyone for a few seconds, followed by Sapientia's fearsome roar. When the light died down, they were greeted with a rare, but welcome sight-a wounded Sapientia. Sapientia let out a gargled groan as its lower jaw hung loosely under its mouth. It hung crooked on its head and swung lifelessly like a broken door on a loose hinge whenever it moved.

"You hurt it?" Starscream gaped. They've been shooting non-stop at that thing for nearly an hour, and Nightshade's little magic arrow was the one thing that actually did some damage? "What the hell is going on?"

Sapientia glared up at Nightshade and swung its head to the side, snapping its broken jawbone back in place. **"So you wield a weapon powered by quintessence. That bow was given to the humans for their loyalty, you do not deserve it. But despite its power, it is useless in your hands!"**

"Wanna bet?" Nightshade got ready for another strike.

Sapientia didn't bother trying to attack again it only ducked back under the waves and swam as fast as it could to the island. Its speed was amazing, unmatched by any other marine animal as it neared Decepticon Island at a faster pace. Megatron had to use his sword as an anchor to keep himself from being swept away by the current. Nightshade couldn't get a solid lock on it and she wasn't going to risk going into the water where it was near unbeatable.

Unable to be attacked from above or targeted by the Nemesis' weapons, Sapientia was able to make it the rest of the way unrestricted. When it reached the shore, it smoothly went from swimming to leaping onto the soggy beach. It climbed out of the water, and stomped towards the small forest that separated it from the Nemesis.

" **You are lucky to be here, Megatron of Tarn,"** Sapientia rumbled. It smashed through trees in its way and crushing them under its feet. **"You get to see the destruction of everything you hold dear. All your accomplishments, all your hollow victories, are nothing in the eyes of God."**

"You are no god," Megatron spat. "You are a freak of nature spawned from this planet like a festering tumor. And you will know your place when fighting me!"

" **No, you will know yours!"**

Sapientia reared up, tossing its body back on its hind legs and tossing Megatron off his head. It caught Megatron in its teeth and tried to bite down, but Megatron held its jaws open with his hands and feet. Megatron could feel energon bleeding from his hands and feet on the sharp, jagged glass teeth. It increased the pressure of its jaws on him and Megatron pushed his servos to the limit to keep them from cutting him in half.

" **Give in."** Sapientia's voice bellowed in Megatron's mind. **"You have no place in this world. Give up and She will be merciful on your immortal soul."**

"Never…" Megatron hissed, his arms and legs starting to creak and groan from the strain.

" **Don't be a fool! Lay down your arms and bow down to Her glory!"**

"Megtron bows to no one!" The Decepticon leader roared.

Starscream appeared over them with Skywarp and he fired a null blast at Sapientia's back, blasting off its wing in the process. The Cardinal growled, and Megatron was able to jump free of its jaws and climb back onto its head. Nightshade and Thundercracker also appeared, but Sapientia's patience was at its zenith.

" **Bow to your gods!"** Sapientia leapt into the air and swatted Starscream out of the sky. Skywarp teleported behind it, but he was smacked away by its tail.

"Just die!" Nightshade fired another arrow that hit it in the shoulder, making it stumble as shards of stone flew everywhere. But it wasn't perturbed by its injuries as it lunged at her.

Sapientia slashed and snapped at her, but she made sure to keep out of its reach. She fired another arrow that hit it in its lower jaw again, shattering more teeth, but it retaliated by slamming its tail into her. She crashed through the trees and hit the ground hard, knocking Gandiva from her grip. Sapientia landed on the ground and turned to the Nemesis.

" **Witness the end of all hope!"** It declared and opened its mouth, its jaw splitting open to reveal its inner cavity and started to charge up another light beam to wipe out the Nemesis once and for all.

But as it gathered energy, Megatron jumped off its head and lunged forward, spinning his body around to face it. Megatron pointed his fusion cannon directly at the inside of Sapientia's mouth and fire just as Sapientia shot its own beam.

XXXXXX

Bumblebee tried not to panic, but that was a difficult task itself. Things were starting to go downhill, not immediately, but the plan was just barely held together at this point.

Temperantia had gotten serious after losing its arm and was on a rampage. Despite losing its fingers and its arm, it was still dangerous, smashing down the towering stone formations like they were building blocks and firing lasers from its eyes that tore into the ground with frightening ease. When it started manifesting blue energy drills that pursued their targets within Temperantia's line of sight, things weren't going so well for the Autobots. But despite this, the children were doing their part very well.

They were like fireflies compared to Temperantia's immense size, flying around it and shooting beams at its tough skin. Darren's telekinesis provided them with a moderate amount of protection from the energy projectiles coming their way as they did what they were here for. Gina and Darren were shooting at the two spheres on its lower body in the front, taking any shot they could get while trying to avoid getting crushed by its arm. Annie, with her Enyo equipped with Mjolnir's power, attacked from behind with a web of lightning bolts that tore up Temperantia's back.

Darren flung large rocks at its face to keep it on guard while Gina powered up her Athena's beam cannon. When she was done, she waited for Darren to leave before pressing the trigger and firing her Talos' most powerful weapon, shooting a beam at one of the sphere's. It hit its target dead on and the powerful blast shattered the sphere like glass. No sooner than it was destroyed that a part of Temperantia's lower body crumbled into dust.

Bumblebee was glad to see that thing start to fall apart, and he wished that he could help them fight, but he regained focus on his current objective-making sure his other friends were alright. "Jazz, Arcee! Guys, sound off if you're okay!"

"Bee, over here!" He heard Arcee call out.

Bumblebee ran in the direction of the voice and quickly found the two Autobots and their Minicons sitting inside a crater near a pile of rubble inside the crater they made when they landed. Arcee was mostly fine, nursing a broken arm, and Peppercat and Road Storm were surprisingly in good shape too. Jazz looked worse for wear, though, lying against a boulder as he rested. He didn't have any severe wounds, but his armor was extremely deformed and he had pieces of sharp rocks stuck in his arms and legs that the Minicons were still picking out.

"I'm so glad you're all right." Bumblebee breathed a sigh of relief. "But how are you all not scrap, I saw you get hit."

"Ask Jazz, I blacked out after we hit the ground." Arcee said.

Jazz chuckled a bit, giving a little cough and grinned up at the two Bots. "Processor over matter, Cee. First lesson of Circuit-Su. Perfect for taking hits that could offline ya. Nearly did me in though." He chuckled again and winced when he felt a sharp pain in his ribs. "Ow."

Arcee shook her head and looked at Bumblebee. "How's the battle going?"

"The kids are doing a good job of taking out its force field. They've already taken out one of the spheres in the front and are trying to deal the lasting blow." Bumblebee said. "Now, it's up to how much Lady Luck is willing to help us."

"The kids will do fine. They've been through worse spats before this." Jazz said weakly.

"Don't talk, cool cat, you need some Zs." Road Storm said and looked at Jolt. "Yo flyboy, give the word that my main man's okay."

"Got it." Jolt transformed and flew away to spread the news. For Arcee and Jazz, their part in this battle was over. Now it was up to the heavy hitters to get this done.

Darren grunted as Temperantia's eye beams hit his telekinetic defenses with the force of Mjolnir. The Prometheus was pushed back by the powerful beam and it couldn't remain airborne as he crashed into the ground with it still trying to destroy him.

"Centurion, get to it!" Darren grunted through his teeth.

Centurion hung on the leg of the Athena as it flew him over to the Cardinal's bottom half. He jumped onto its body and stabbed the omni-saber into its flesh, and starting to climb up to the sphere. He held on tight as the massive being shook violently from the explosions and thrashing that it was doing, and leapt up to the sphere. It pulsated like a beating heart, and when Centurion stabbed the saber into it, Temperantia gave a painful scream that caused the very mountains to tremble. The sphere broke apart into large shards of red crystal and dust, and the green armor that it was embedded in crumbled away to the ground. Centurion jumped off and the omni-saber de-combined into the Air Defense Team, with Jetstorm flying in low to catch Centurion on his wing.

"That's the second sphere down!" Darren announced. "Annie, you're up!"

The Enyo raised its arm and Mjolnir crackled with electricity. Annie raised it to the sky and a lightning bolt was shot from the storm clouds and hit Mjolnir full force. The hammer absorbed the natural lightning, which was a hundred times more powerful than anything created artificially. Annie pointed it at Temperantia's remaining arm and fired a powerful bolt that hit the helix dead center. The enhanced lightning bolt that hit the sphere vaporized it in a white flash and sent Temperantia's other arm falling to the ground.

"Hell yeah!" Annie cheered. But her cheering was cut short when Temperantia fired three energy lances that blasted off the Enyo's arm and leg. The third hit the chest and, though it didn't severely damage the cockpit, the blast itself sent the Enyo hitting a boulder and falling to the ground.

"Annie!" Centurion and the Air Defense Team landed on the ground and ran up to the fallen Talos. Sonar jumped on the hatch and knocked on it. "Are you okay, lass?"

"Yeah, I'm as fine as a girl with nine fingers will ever be." Annie huffed and checked the readings on her mecha. "But I think I'm grounded."

" **Why do you fight me children?"** Temperantia asked, staring at the white and red forms of the Prometheus and Athena. **"Why do you spurn my attempts at granting your people salvation?"**

"Don't even bother. We've already heard the argument from snuff the tragic dragon." Annie growled.

"What you're doing is threatening thousands of people, killing them, taking away their homes." Gina said. "And since you're heading onto our turf, you can expect us to be pissed."

Gina targeted the center of its face, but was forced to fly away when Temperantia fired a dozen blue lanes at her.

" **We molded you humans from clay to give you life, we granted you fire to give you warmth, we gifted you kind with power to conquer the world at your leisure,"** Temperantia ranted, its voice rising in tone and its anger grew. **"We even gifted you with the secrets of quintessence to power those accursed automatons that serve you. Yet here you still turn your weapons against us! Such insolence, I shall show you the error of your ways!"**

"Then shut up and fight!" Gina said and fired another shot from her beam cannon at its face. The beam was deflected by its last remaining barrier, but she trailed the beam down its body, and was pleased to see it burn into its form, leaving scorched, molten rock behind. It was no long protected anymore, and could be wounded now.

Temperantia advanced towards Gina, but then it was attacked by a volley of rockets and grenades on top of blaster bolts and plasma beams. Ironhide and Bulkhead were close by wit their neutron cannons and rocket launchers laying down everything they had to cause as much damage they could. Optimus fired his ion cannon at the exposed innards where its lower body had fallen away from. Prowl and Wheeljack opened fire from their position as well, using their improvised missile launcher to fire variable missiles at it from afar. The combined firepower from all the Autobots and the two Talos were bringing it down faster than expected, and it was pissing the Cardinal off.

" **DIE!"**

Temperantia howled and its halo shined brighter to the point where it was like trying to look at the sun. Then nearly two dozen light beams were fired from its halo and shot towards the Autobots. They peppered the ground, exploding everything they touched, and the ground units were forced to cut their attacks off and scatter. A blast hit the stone arch Ironhide and Bulkhead were standing on and it collapsed with them falling along with it. Prowl and Wheeljack were blasted off their feet when another beam hit their hiding place, sending them crashing into a pile of boulders. Optimus de-linked with Sparkplug and they drove away to avoid the beam that was fired their way.

Temperantia's heavenly rain ravaged the area, blasting down the pillars and blowing holes into small hills and mountains. When it halted its assault, much of the land within a hundred miles had been leveled and cleared out of any notable rock formations or caves or trees. It was all just flat land covered in rubble.

" **Will you heathens still persist in fighting me? Even at your strongest you cannot kill me!"** Temperantia shouted.

"Would you just shut up already?" Gina appeared right in front of its face and drew its beam sabers, slashing and hacking away at its ravaged form, causing minor, but notable damage.

Temperantia was not amused. **"Is that supposed to make a difference human?"**

"No, it's supposed to provide a distraction." Gina smirked.

Temperantia was confused, but then its face contorted in pain as it felt a sharp pain in its back. The Prometheus had jammed its beam saber right into the middle of the Cardinal's back, where the last sphere was. With a yell, Darren slashed his saber out and tore the sphere apart with his powers. Once the last sphere was gone, the barrier protecting Temperantia's face faded away, leaving it exposed and open to fire.

"All right! They've done it!" Sparkplug cheered. But Optimus wasn't as happy.

"Children, get out of there!"

The Cardinal, blinded by rage, sent out another volley of blasts from its halo and directed half of them at Darren and Gina. To their surprise, these were harder to escape, as they followed the Talos like heat seeking missiles. Darren was able to shoot down two of them, but he had to encase his Talos in a telekinetic bubble to protect himself from the bulk of the beams that chased him and was sent to the ground with a blinding rain of light hitting him. Gina had it worse, armed with only a physical titanium shield to defend her Athena, she had to fly as fast as she can to escape the beams. She tried to zigzag, fake out, even stall to let them shoot past her, but they still dogged her through the air.

Darren could see her Talos trying to shoot down the beams, but his heart stopped when he saw one beam hit her mecha's leg. "Gina!"

From that first hit, Gina's speed decreased and the rest of the beams caught up to her. Most of them hit the Athena's shield, but two beams hit the Talos' shoulders and sent it crashing to the ground. The Athena hit the ground with tremendous force and rolled across the rocky, devastated earth until rolling to a stop. It didn't get up. Darren saw Temperantia gearing up for another shot and he tried to fly to her position.

"Shit, I'm not going to make it!" Darren cried out. Then he saw it fire a pair of beams from its eyes and knew that he wouldn't be fast enough or close enough to defend her. "GINA!"

Just before the beams could reach her, Optimus jumped in front of the Athena. His Matrix was glowing brightly and he raised his battle axe to block the beam head on. The Cardinal and everyone present were surprised at how Optimus could deflect such a powerful attack, and saw the blue aura that was surrounding his body. It was a feat that should be considered impossible, but the Matrix was granting as much protection it would allow to the Prime and he was going to make good use of it's power.

"No more people will die today!" Optimus yelled. His arms buckled under the strain and he felt himself being pushed back. "No more!"

" **Then be the messianic figure you see yourself to be and die for her sins!"** Temperantia increased the power of its beam and both Optimus and Gina were blasted away from each other.

Optimus hit the ground hard, nearly dislocating his shoulder on impact and crashing into a pile of rubble. No longer concerned with killing Gina, Temperantia advanced upon Optimus and opened its mouth wide to fire its powerful photon beam. As he saw its mouth glow, Optimus stood up and brought out his battle blade, standing firm before it. He knew that he could not outrun it, and blocking something like that was near impossible. But he wasn't going to give up when they were so close.

Temperantia fired its beam, and just like before it seemed like the whole world went dark from the sheer intensity of the beam. At that distance, it would take Optimus a miracle to survive something like that. But a miracle did come…as the Prometheus!

"Darren?!" Optimus said shocked.

The Prometheus raised its arms and Darren raised the output of his Talos' receptors to its peak and channeled his telekinesis through them. A telekinetic barrier blocked the beam just shy of a few inches from hitting them. Darren roared as he pushed his machine, and his body, to the limit to keep them both safe. It felt like he was trying to move a mountain with his bare hands, but he didn't let his thoughts go there. He had to remember that size meant nothing when the mind was concerned. Mind over matter.

The Prometheus didn't falter, and its barrier deflected the beam in several directions, but Temperantia increased its power and eventually the dome, and the beam, both exploded in a flash of light, with Darren and Optimus in the epicenter.

XXXXXX

Time seemed to stop as Megatron stared into the white abyss of Sapientia's mouth, and in that moment, only one who was the fastest would make it out alive. And Megatron was just a fraction faster.

A plasma beam shot from Megatron's fusion cannon into Sapientia's mouth just as it was about to fire and it caused a violent reaction within the Cardinal's mouth. It resulted in an explosion that made Sapientia choke and halt its attack. With smoke and flames erupting from its mouth, Sapientia charge at Megatron, who transformed and drove in reverse, circling around so that it would turn its body and leave its back open to the Nemesis.

"I believe in no gods, just as I do not believe in Heaven or Hell," Megatron fired blasts from his fusion cannon, blasting off chunks of Sapientia's body. "There is only one god I believe in and that is death!"

" **Then you shall meet your god!"** Sapientia howled.

It slashed its claw at him, but Megatron switched to robot mode and jumped to the side as the claw slammed into the ground. Megatron fired another fully charged plasma beam at its leg, destroying it at the wrist. Despite this, the Cardinal still fought furiously.

The Nemesis' warp cannons opened fire on Sapientia, bombarding its left side with high energy attacks. It fell over and the ship fired 8 proton torpedoes that hit its underbelly, further damaging it. Its body was riddled with craters and missing multiple appendages and limbs, but Sapientia still snapped its jaws at anything that moved.

"You know, if you hadn't torched my ship, I'd admire your tenacity, your will to live." Megatron said. "But you tried to kill me, and no one attempts that and hopes to see the next sunrise."

Sapientia gave a deep chuckle. **"You still hide your inferiority behind a faced of bravado. Your little war is nothing compared our noble crusade, our divine quest to help all life in the universe transcend their physical forms. You have nothing to fight for, no home, no people, not even a cause. That reality will catch up to you, Megatron, and when it does, it will snatch you up…and devour you!"**

Sapientia shot its body into the air and fired a low powered beam at the Nemesis, blasting another hole in the ship that was near the bridge, and swept it along the top to destroy the warp cannons. Then it spun its body around and lunged at Megatron to snatch him up in its jaws. It wasn't going to die before completing its mission!

Then, as if fired by the Heavens itself, a silver arrow hit Sapientia's back, destroying much of its torso and severing its other wing. Like an angel of death, Nightshade descended upon it on raven black wings. She pointed Gandiva at it and pulled the string back one final time.

"Fall."

She let the arrow fly into Sapientia's head and the thunder clapped as if in applause.

XXXXXX

"Darren, Optimus?" Annie breathed as she saw her brother and the Prime vanish in the golden explosion. She had to shield her eyes from the blinding glare as grew larger, evolving into a dome of energy.

No one moved or said a thing as they thought they saw two of their comrades perish under the powerful assault of the Cardinal. But to everyone's surprise, the energy dome started to tremble before distending, as if bloated from the inside. Prowl stepped forward as his keen eyes spotted the silhouettes of two figures at the heart of the dome.

"Impossible," He breathed.

Suddenly the golden flames and energy were pushed aside by an invisible force and Optimus, bathed in a silver aura, flew from it with his sword drawn. Propelled through the air like a bullet, Optimus was held aloft by Darren's telekinetic hold as it shot at the Cardinal at high speeds. With a fearsome roar, Optimus raised his sword and stabbed it in the center of Temperantia's head.

" **KRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"**

Temperantia's dying screams were accompanied by its halo expanding and then exploding into millions of tiny sparks that fell over the entire area, before being scattered to the wind. Red sparkles spurted from its head where the red hot blade cut into its brain and Optimus stared it right in the eyes as it started to fall.

"This world will never be yours," Optimus said. "And your goddess will never have me."

" **Hehe,"** Temperantia laughed, even as it lost control of its body. " **No one denies the glorious Jubileus. Her reach is far and wide and Her armies are born from the earth itself. We all belong to Her, you just don't realize it yet."**

Optimus held on tight as they crashed to the ground and it fell onto its back, each impact feeling like a tectonic shift. As soon as it fell flat on the ground, the other Autobots raced for their leader and pointed their weapons at it. Optimus pulled his blade from its head and its face slithered out of its hole like a malformed snake. It looked down at Optimus with a mixture of anger and amusement.

" **Do not think that you have won with my death. The alignment has awakened my fellow Dolems all over the world. They will see you out, hunt you without rest and will give you the rightful judgment you all deserve. All the world shall be your enemy."**

"Then we shall fight." Optimus replied just as strongly. Prowl climbed onto its body to stand next to Prime.

"You seem oddly happy for someone on their last breath." Prowl noted.

" **Unlike you I do not fear death."** Temperantia smirked. **"For too long I have been cut off from Her warmth, and now I shall be with Her again. She will have you Optimus Prime. Jubileus always gets what she wants."**

"She's welcome to try." He said. "I won't go quietly."

Temperantia laughed and its head fell forward as the life ebbed from its body. **"May the creator Jubileus bless you…"**

The light faded from its eyes and its head sagged lifelessly. Temperantia was dead. Optimus allowed himself to sag in relief and disengaged Sparkplug from his port.

"It's finally over." Optimus breathed.

Prowl crossed his arms and looked at the Cardinal's now eroding corpse. "For now at least."

"Couldn't help yourself, could you Prowl?" Sparkplug sighed and fell to his knees in exhaustion. "let's just enjoy the victory while it lasts, okay?"

Prowl snorted and gave a little smirk at the Minicon. "Okay."

Meanwhile, the low powered Prometheus made an unsteady landing near the still motionless Athena and Darren was already out of the cockpit before the hatch was fully open. Centurion and Annie were there when he climbed onto the Talos.

"It won't open and Gina isn't answering my calls!" Centurion said in a slightly panicked voice as Sureshock's personality rose to the surface.

Darren telekinetically pulled the hatch open and looked inside. Gina was still in her seat, knocked out from the hard impact her unit took when it crashed. Darren slowly climbed into the cockpit and unclipped her seatbelt, sliding her arms out of the servo armatures and gently patting her face.

"Gina," Darren whispered. "Come on, Gina wake up."

After a minute, Gina's eyes fluttered open and she let out a little groan. She opened her eyes and saw Darren leaning over her with Annie and Centurion behind him. "Darren? Ow, my head hurts."

"Easy, Gina," Centurion cautioned. "You took a bad hit. Are you okay?"

"Aside from a splitting headache, I'm just peachy." She answered, then her eyes widened. "Did we win? Is the Cardinal dead?"

"Yeah, we won." Darren smiled. Gina let out a shaky breath and hugged Darren tightly, which he returned. Annie got in on the hug as well. All three kids were relieved to the point of tears and happy that they all made it out alive.

"I was so scared," Gina whispered. "I didn't think we'd make it out."

"Well, when you have some of the best warriors the galaxy has to offer, you find it hard to be worried." Darren said.

"Liar," She chuckled. Then she saw the sky over his shoulder. "Guys, look. The rain's stopped."

The twins and Centurion looked up at the dark sky and saw that the heavy rains had indeed stopped and the clouds looked like they were starting to break apart as well. They were a much calmer grey now, instead of their fearsome darker hue they had earlier. It was almost symbolic in a sense, a sign that the danger had passed.

"It has, hasn't it?" Darren asked, smiling softly.

XXXXXX

The Decepticons stood around the fallen form of Sapientia. The Cardinal was in no condition to lift a clawed finger and had finally stopped moving, with most of its torso a smoking wreck, two missing legs, and a hole burned into its head. Now it was in its death throes.

"Where is your god now?" Megatron asked.

Sapientia gave no answer.

"I asked you where is your god!" Megatron kicked its golden plated head. "You were spouting all that slag about divine retribution earlier. Where did all of that fearlessness go? Or are you just afraid of dying?"

" **Death brings me closer to Her grace, Jubileus,"** Sapientia said at last. **"For even in my failure, she will still accept my immortal soul. But you, Megatron, have no god. Your race killed it long ago and now you fight an endless war with no purpose."**

"Can I shut this thing up already?" Skywarp pointed his cannons at it, but Starscream forced his arms down.

"Stand down. Let it speak." Starscream said. He wanted to hear what point it was trying to make.

" **You have no goals, no cause to fight save for fighting itself."** Sapientia continued. " **Whereas I fight for the glory of Jubileus, you've lost your cause. Now you fight, because you know that if you stop fighting, people will realize that all the sacrifices made, all the people who've died for you, was all for nothing."**

"Are you done?" Megatron snapped. "If you are, then do us all a favor and die already. It's been a long and infuriating day."

Sapientia chuckled. " **Your dream will crumble around you and in the end, all you'll have left is a dead world with nothing to show for it. That is your reality, Megatron, and you are too slow to realize it."** It let out a raspy groan and its head slumped to the side. **"May the creator Jubileus, bless you…"**

Megatron watched the life fade away from the monster that nearly destroyed everything he built on this planet. He turned to the Nemesis and scowled at the damage it had taken. This was a warship that lasted for a thousand battles on Cybertron and this monster nearly destroys it in two hits.

"So…what do we do now?" Thundercracker asked.

"Now?" Megatron faced his men. "Now we survey the damages we've taken and repair our ship! What the hell do you think we're going to do?"

"We'll get right to work, Megatron." Starscream said and flew over to the Nemesis with his Seekers. Sapientia's last words echoed in his mind, and he found himself wondering just what Megatron had planned for the Decepticons after the war. Did Megatron even have a plan?

Megatron and Nightshade stared at Sapientia's corpse, which was now starting to crumble away. She turned to Megatron and said, "This isn't over. More will come."

"Then we will kill them all." Megatron grunted. "I've faced worse things that a bunch of misshapen monsters with a god complex. I'll kill them all and keep on killing all the way to their precious goddess!"

He fired a blast from his fusion cannon at Sapientia's head and destroyed it in one shot, the pieces turning to dust in the wind. "These beings will rue the day they ever heard my name. This means war!"

XXXXXX

The mood in the Ark was far more happy and jovial. The Autobots, Minicons and children returned to the ship victorious and celebrated the victory they fought long and hard for. Jazz and Arcee went to the CR chambers for recovery, but for the most part, everyone made it out in one piece.

Optimus stood apart from the crowd, watching everyone laugh and converse in the rec room having energon (non-alcoholic of course). Even Prowl used this moment to relax with the others. Optimus left the rec room and walked over to the west wing where the Minicons and humans were gathered and looked inside the room. Debbie was fiercely hugging Darren, Annie and Gina, practically leaking tears of joy. Not even the Street Action Team were spared from her iron clasp hugs.

On the side, Sparkplug talked with the other Minicons about basically nothing, really. It was just pointless chatter to ease their minds and have a chance to revel in the fact that they survived against a powerful foe. Peppercat was sleeping at Undertone's feet as he sharpened his swords. Rollbar and Fixit were playing a human game with a mat that had brightly colored circles that involved moving their body in ways that it was not meant to move. Road Storm watched some television and Liftor prayed for the Guiding Hand to thank them for not letting him die today. The Air Defense Team, Comettor and Jolt were playing a game of Poker. Where they got the cards, no one knows.

Optimus continued down the vast halls of the Ark, a ship that has since become a home away from home for everyone aboard. He reached his quarters and entered his room. He shut the door and pressed a button on his desk that turned on the music to Mozart's orchestral pieces. Sitting at his desk, he brought up a message that he was working on and started to finish it.

 _We are stranded on this alien world, hiding amongst its populace as robots in disguise. Though most of the natives are unaware of our presence, those that do know of us have proven to be valuable allies, strong in both mind and body. But we have also made enemies of some of them as well and they, to, have a part to play in the way we have brought here. The Decepticons are still a threat, and Megatron's ambition to conquer this world has grown significantly. We miss our friends off world, but we also cherish the bonds we have made here as well._

 _I am Optimus Prime. I send this message to our brothers and sisters fighting for the preservation of our race, for our home somewhere amongst the stars. We are with you._

 _We remember._

 **Book 1-End**

* * *

 **Thank you all for your support of this story and for staying with me for this long. I couldn't have done it without your support and praise. Stay tuned for some more chapters for Transformers: Uprising, and Book 2 of Transformers Titan-Escalation!**


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